
Class E 1 9 9 
Bonk • H / 2S 



PRESENTED BY 



Washington's Expeditions 

(1753-1754) 



and 



Braddock's Expedition 

(1755) 



With history of Tom 
Fausett, the slayer of 
General Edward Braddock 



(SECOND EDITION) 



By 

James Hadden 

Uniontown, Pa. 






** 



Entered according to act of congress 
in the year 1910, by James Hadden, 
Uniontown, Pa., in the office of the Li- 
brarian of Congress at Washington, D. 
C. 



em 

4 

IAR 21 1S1 



I 



List of Illustrations 

Page. 

The Great Meadows with Fort Necessity 
Outlined in the Center — 1904. .Frontispiece 

Major George Washington — 1754 8 

Rock Fort where the Half-King was En- 
camped 22 

Ledge of Rocks from which Washington 
Fired on the French 26 

Jumonville's Grave 28 

Road over which Washington's men pull- 
ed the cannon by hand 32 

Fort Necessity as sketched by Freeman 
Lewis — 1816 52 

Washington's Mill, built in Fayette Coun- 
ty— 1776 58 



List of Illustrations (continued) 

Chapter II. 

Page 

General Edward Braddock 66 

Fort Cumberland — 1755 70 

Braddock's Battlefield 80 

Dunbar's Encampment 86 

Braddock's Watch 102 

Braddock's Grave 104 

Chapter III. 

Washington's Springs 120 

Peddler's Rocks 124 

Rebecca Fausett, Grand-daughter of Jo- 
seph Fausett 130 

Grave of Thomas Fausett 138 



Preface. 

In presenting this narrative of the ex- 
peditions of Lieutenant Colonel George 
Washington and Major General Edward 
Braddock to the public it is with the be- 
lief that a short and comprehensive rela- 
tion of these two important events in the 
history of our country will prove both 
interesting and instructive. 

These expeditions were the initiatives 
of a great struggle between two great 
powers to decide whether America was 
to be an appendage of France or to be- 
come the land of an English-speaking 
race. 

The great Mississippi valley, a region 
vast enough and fertile enough to feed 
the inhabitants of the world, was a goal 
far more to be desired than for which 
the armies of the nations had ever be- 
fore contended. 

Not only this, but these expeditions 
schooled the colonists in the arts of war 
and gave them that confidence in their 
prowess that enabled them later suc- 
cessfully to throw off the yoke of op- 
pression and establish a new nation 
which is now attracting the wonder and 
admiration of the civilized world. 



WASHINGTON'S EXPEDITIONS— 
1753-1754. 

Washington's Mission to the French 
Posts at the Head of the Alle- 
gheny River, 1753. 

More than a century had elapsed after 
the discovery of this continent by the 
Cabots before the first English settle- 
ment was established in America, and 
one hundred and forty years more had 
rolled away before settlements were at- 
tempted west of the Allegheny Moun- 
tains. Thus for two hundred and fifty 
years after having gained possession by 
discovery had England been content to 
colonize only the American seaboard. 

The French had made settlements on 
the St. Lawrence, and by the last half of 
the seventeenth century had pushed 
their way along the shores of the great 
lakes, and by the middle of the eigh- 
teenth century had explored the country 
from the lakes on the north to the gulf 
on the south and from the Alleghenies 
on the east to the Mississippi on the 



3 WASHINGTON'S AND 

west, and had established their trading 
posts and their missions. 

Although a lucrative business had 
been carried on for some years by Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland and Virginia fur 
traders with the Indians of the Ohio Val- 
ley, no systematic effort on the part of 
the English colonists had been made to 
establish settlements west of the Alle- 
gheny Mountains until 1748, when 
Thomas Lee, president of the Virginia 
Council, associated with himself twelve 
other gentlemen, among whom were 
Gov. Robert Dinwiddie, Lawrence and 
Augustine Washington — brothers of 
George Washington, and Mr. John Ham- 
burg, a wealthy merchant of London. 
This company was to be known as the 
Ohio Company, and a royal grant was 
obtained in March, 1749, for a tract of 
five hundred thousand acres of land ly- 
ing on the south side of the Ohio and be- 
tween the Monongahela and the Kana- 
wha rivers, with privilege to embrace a 
portion of land on the north side if 
deemed expedient. Two hundred thou- 
sand acres were to be selected immedi- 
ately, the whole to be exempt from quit 
rent for ten years, the company agreeing 




Major George Washington -1754 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 9 

to seat one hundred families on the same 
within seven years, and at their own ex- 
pense to build a fort and maintain a gari- 
rison sufficient to protect the settlement. 
Christopher Gist was employed as the 
agent for this Ohio Company to select 
the lands and to conciliate the Indians. 
With these objects in view he left his 
home on the banks of the Yodkin, near 
the boundary line between Virginia and 
North Carolina, in the fall of 1749, and 
ascended the Potomac to the mouth of 
Will's Creek. From here, on the thirty- 
first of October, he proceeded to where 
Bedford is now located, and from thence 
to the Forks of the Ohio. At Logstown, 
about sixteen miles below the Forks, a 
conference was held with Tanacharison, 
a Seneca chief of great note, he being 
head Sachem of the mixed tribes, which 
had migrated to the Ohio and its tribu- 
taries. He was generally surnamed the 
Half-King, being subordinate to the Iro- 
quois Confederacy, and was a man of 
considerable intelligence. After the 
usual formalities and the delivery of 
many presents in securing the friendship 
of the Indians, Gist passed on down the 
Ohio River to within fifteen miles of the 



10 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Falls, and thence by a circuitous route he 
returned to Virginia in 1751. 

In 1750 the Ohio Company built a 
small storehouse on the site once occu- 
pied by the Shawanee town Cainctucuc 
on the west side of Will's Creek where 
that stream empties into the Potomac 
River and where the city of Cumberland 
now stands, and the following year Col- 
onel Thomas Cresap, who then lived at 
Shawanee Old Town, was employed to 
open out a road from Will's Creek to the 
mouth of the Monongahela. He wisely 
selected for his assistant a Delaware 
Indian by the name of Nemacolin, whose 
residence was at the mouth of Nerna- 
colin's Creek, now known as Dunlap's 
Creek, on the Monongahela River. Be- 
ginning at the terminus of the road al- 
ready made, to the storehouse at Will's 
Creek, they followed an old trail worn by 
the foot of the red man centuries before 
the pale face beheld the outlines of a 
new continent. Running westward un- 
til reaching the crest of Laurel Hill this 
road turned abruptly northward along 
the crest of the mountain and descended 
the western slope, where it joined the old 
Catawba Trail what is now known as the 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS H 

Mt. Braddock farm. From this point 
northward this road was, with few de- 
viations, identical with the above men- 
tioned trail, crossing the Youghiogheny 
River a short distance below the present 
town of New Haven, passing to the west 
of the location of Mount Pleasant, and 
when reaching a point to the west of the 
location of Greensburg it deflected to 
the west and on to the Forks of the 
Ohio. From the fact that Nemacolin 
was employed on the improvement of 
the trail it received the name of Nema- 
colin's Trail, which name it retained un- 
til Braddock's army passed over it, since 
which it has been known as Braddock's 
Road. 

Gist made a second survey for the 
Ohio Company in 1752, this time pass- 
ing over the Nemacolin Trail and cross- 
ing the Monongahela below where Mc- 
Keesport now stands. Returning, he 
crossed the Monongahela at the mouth 
of Nemacolin Creek, where he met his 
old Indian friend, who proposed the fol- 
lowing question:. "If the French claim 
all the land north of the Ohio, and the 
English all on the south, where do the 



12 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Indians' lands lie?" This question went 
unanswered. 

Gist had selected for himself twenty- 
five hundred acres of land at the foot of 
Laurel Hill, considering this within the 
Ohio Company's grant, and in 1753 he 
here established a small settlement con- 
sisting of eleven families. He built his 
cabin near a fine spring and within a few 
rods of the exact geographical center of 
Fayette County. He was the second set- 
tler within the bounds of what is now 
Fayette County, Wendell Brown having 
preceded him by one year. 

In 1753 the French began active meas- 
ures to secure the Ohio valley by the 
force of arms by erecting a cordon of 
forts to extend from Lake Erie down the 
Allegheny and Ohio rivers. This news 
soon reached the ears of the governor of 
Virginia, who in the fall of the same 
year determined to dispatch a messeng- 
er to demand of the French an explana- 
tion of their design and warn them off. 

George Washington, then in his twen- 
ty-second year, was commissioned by 
Governor Dinwiddie as a special envoy 
to proceed to the headwaters of the Al- 
legheny and deliver the message to Gen- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 13 

eral St. Pierre, the French commander. 
He started out on his journey October 
thirtieth, the day or the day after he had 
received his credentials, and arrived at 
Will's Creek November fourteenth. Here 
he secured the services of Christopher 
Gist as guide, John Davidson as Indian 
interpreter, Captain Jacob Van Braam 
as French interpreter; Curram and Mc- 
Quire, Indian traders, and Stewart and 
Jenkins — these four as servitors. 

From here they followed the Nema- 
colin Trail, passing Gist's new settle- 
ment, and after seven days reached 
Frazier's trading post at the mouth of 
Turtle Creek, on the Monongahela River. 
Passing on down they arrived at Logs- 
town, about sixteen miles below the 
Forks, after sunset November twenty- 
fourth. Here a consultation was held 
with Tanacharison, the Half-King; 
Monacatootha, the next in command, 
and other friendly Indians of the mixed 
tribes, some of which Washington en- 
gaged to accompany him to Venango, 
the advance post of the French. Here 
they arrived December fourth, and found 
the French flag flying over the log house 
from which Frazier, the English trader, 



14 WASHINGTON'S AND 

had been driven and which was now oc- 
cupied by Joncaire, who referred Wash- 
ington to the commanding officer, 
whose headquarters were at Le Boeuf, 
the fort lately built a short distance 
above on French Creek. Here he was 
courteously received by Legardeur de 
St. Pierre, who promised to forward his 
message to the governor-general of 
Canada, and refused to discuss the great 
questions involving the remonstrance of 
Virginia, but stated that he would in the 
meantime hold his position to the best 
of his ability, and intended, further, to 
eject every Englishman from the Ohio 
valley. 

His mission fulfilled, Washington, af- 
ter much delay, started back, and becom- 
ing impatient of the company he and 
Gist alone concluded to strike out on 
foot across the country. After much fa- 
tigue and suffering, being shot at by a 
treacherous Indian and nearly lost in the 
Allegheny River, they reached Frazier's 
house once more. They left Frazier's on 
January I, 1754, and reached Gist's plan- 
tation on January second. Here they 
procured horses and pressed on, reach- 
ing Will's creek on the sixth. Washing- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 15 

ton spent the night with Gist, and met 
seventeen horses loaded with material 
and stores for the fort at the Forks of 
the Ohio, and the day after some families 
going out to settle. The Ohio Com- 
pany, having determined to build their 
fort at the Forks and to establish trad- 
ing posts at Frazier's and elsewhere, were 
proceeding energetically toward the ac- 
complishment of these objects. He de- 
livered the message of Saint Pierre and 
made a full report of his journey to the 
governor at Williamsburg on the six- 
teenth of January ; thus Washington's 
first important public service was ac- 
complished. 

Before Washington had returned from 
his mission to the French forts the Ohio 
Company had appealed to Governor Din- 
widdie for military protection at their 
fort already begun at the Forks, in com- 
pliance with which, early in January of 
1754, Wm. Trent, an explorer, who at 
this time was engaged in erecting a 
strong log storehouse at the mouth of 
Redstone Creek on the Monongahela 
River for the Ohio Company — this being 
the next storehouse west of that already 
built at Will's Creek, was commissioned as 



16 WASHINGTON'S AND 

captain, John Frazier, before mentioned, 
as lieutenant, and Edward Ward, ap- 
pointed as ensign, were authorized to 
raise a company of militia of one hun- 
dred men, proceed to the Forks and 
finish and garrison the fort already be- 
gun. 

Trent proceeded by Nemacolin's Trail 
as far as Gist's plantation, and from 
thence to the mouth of Redstone, where 
after finishing the Hangard he returned 
to Will's Creek, leaving Ensign Ward in 
command to proceed to the Forks, at 
which place he arrived on the seven- 
teenth of February. Here with Gist and 
George Croghan they proceeded to fin- 
ish the fort, which was supplied with ten 
four-pound field pieces and eighty bar- 
rels of powder and a supply of small 
arms. 

The French descend the Allegheny in 
considerable force. 

Everything seemed quiet until the Alle- 
gheny, freed from ice, opened in the 
spring. On April thirteenth Ensign 
Ward received notice that the French 
were descending the river in consider- 
able force. 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 17 

The following day he dispatched a let- 
ter to Captain Trent at Will's Creek, 
and went directly himself to Lieutenant 
Frazier at Turtle Creek, who replied that 
he could not leave his work, as by doing 
so he would lose shillings for every 
pence he would receive for his services. 
The following morning Ensign Ward 
sent for the Half-King and one of his 
chiefs named Serreneatta, and set to 
work to finish the stockade. They had 
the last gate erected before the French 
appeared. 

On the seventeenth Contrecoeur ap- 
peared before the fort with three hun- 
dred wooden canoes and sixty bateaux 
with four men to each, eighteen pieces of 
cannon, three of which were nine-pound- 
ers. A landing was made a small dis- 
tance from the fort, and Le Mercier was 
sent to demand a surrender of the fort. 
Looking at his watch, which indicated 
two o'clock, he demanded that an an- 
swer be delivered at the French camp in 
writing within one hour. Ensign Ward 
spent half of this hour in consulting 
with the Half-King, who advised him to 
acquaint the French commander that he 
was not an ofhcer of rank, nor invested 



18 WASHINGTON'S AND 

with power to answer his demand, and 
to request him to await the arrival of 
the principal commander. Contrecoeur 
was inflexible, and demanded an answer 
that instant. 

Ward saw the French to number about 
a thousand, and his own force being 
forty-one in all — only thirty-three of 
which were soldiers, he surrendered, 
with liberty to march off with everything 
belonging thereto by twelve o'clock the 
next day. He encamped within three 
hundred yards of the fort with a party 
of friendly Indians. The French com- 
mander sent for him to supper and made 
many inquiries as to the intention of the 
English, but Ward refused to impart 
the desired information. The command- 
er then tried to buy some carpenter 
tools, which Ward refused to sell. 

The following morning Ensign Ward 
received a speech from Half-King to the 
governor and proceeded with all his men 
to Redstone, where he arrived in two 
days, and from there to Will's Creek, 
where he arrived on the twenty-second 
and met Colonel Washington on his way 
to the Forks. 

The French immediately completed 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 19 

the stockade evacuated by Ensign Ward 
and named it Fort Duquesne in honor of 
the governor-general of Canada. 

The reply of the French general, Saint 
Pierre, together with the information re- 
ceived from Washington, convinced Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie that inaction on his 
part would lose to the English the whole 
valley of the Ohio. 

Washington is commissioned Major and 
ordered against the French. 

He therefore commissioned Wash- 
ington as major, with authority to en- 
list one hundred and fifty men and pro- 
ceed to the Forks of the Ohio to finish 
the fort already begun, to make prison- 
ers and to kill or destroy all who inter- 
rupted the English settlement. This 
commission was soon raised to that of 
lieutenant-colonel, and the number of 
men increased to three hundred, to be 
divided into six companies. Enlistments 
were encouraged by a royal grant of two 
hundred thousand acres of land, to be 
divided among them. Colonel Joshua 
Fry, an English gentleman, was appoint- 
ed to command the whole, and was to 



20 WASHINGTON'S AND 

follow with the artillery to be conveyed 
up the Potomac. The first intention was 
to make a wagon road from Will's 
Creek, to which point the Ohio Com- 
pany had already opened a road, to the 
mouth of Redstone, and there erect a 
fort; thence, when reenforced, to pro- 
ceed against the French at the Forks. 
With these objects in view Washington 
started from Alexandria, Virginia, April 
2, 1754, with two companies, amounting 
to one hundred and fifty men, and hav- 
ing been joined on the route by a detach- 
ment under Captain Adam Stephens, ar- 
rived at Will's Creek, April twentieth, 
and two days later Ensign Ward arrived 
with the intelligence of the surrender of 
the works at the Forks of the Ohio. 

From here sixty men were sent for- 
ward to widen the Nemacolin Trail, and 
and April twenty-ninth the army moved 
from Will's Creek, and by the ninth of 
May were encamped at the Little Mead- 
ows, a distance of twenty miles. Here 
Washington received information that 
Contrecoeur had been reenforced with 
eight hundred men, and expresses were 
immediately sent to the governors of 
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 21 

requesting reenforcements, and after 
consultation with his brother officers de- 
cided to advance. Castleman Creek was 
two miles west of Little Meadows, and 
here more than two days were spent in 
bridging the stream ; this was named the 
Little Crossings. On the eighteenth the 
Youghiogheny River was reached, seven- 
teen miles west of the Little Crossings, 
and although the army was enabled to 
cross without bridging, this place was 
named the Big Crossings. 

While the army lay here several days 
Washington, with Lieutenant West, 
three soldiers and an Indian descended 
the river in a canoe to ascertain if it was 
navigable for the transportation of the 
artillery, which they had been obliged 
to drag by hand since leaving Will's 
Creek. This journey ended in disap- 
pointment at the Falls, a distance of 
thirty miles from the Great Crossings. 
Scarcely had Washington returned from 
his journey to the falls when a messeng- 
er arrived from his old friend, the Half- 
King, that a detachment of French was 
marching toward him with a determina- 
tion to make an attack, and that he (the 
Half-King) would be on in five days to 



22 WASHINGTON'S AND 

hold a council. Washington thereupon 
hastened to the Great Meadows, a dis- 
tance of about fifty-one miles west of 
Will's Creek, reaching this place on the 
twenty-fourth of May, and here he 
again received intelligence that the 
French were on their way to meet him. 
A halt was made and a stockade erected, 
and by clearing away the brush and un- 
dergrowth, prepared, as he said, "a most 
charming field for an encounter." 

A scouting party was sent out on 
wagon horses to reconnoitre, but return- 
ed without having seen an enemy. The 
same evening the Half-King's warning 
was confirmed by a trader, who told that 
the French were at the crossing of the 
Youghiogheny, eighteen miles distant 
from the Big Crossings, and known as 
Stewart's Crossing, as William Stewart 
lived near that place in 1753 and part of 
1754, and was driven out by the French. 

About two o'clock in the night an 
alarm was given. The sentries fired up- 
on what they mistook to be prowling 
foes ; the troops sprang to arms and re- 
mained on the alert until daybreak. Not 
an enemv was to be seen. The roll was 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 23 

called and six men were missing, having 
deserted. 

On May twenty-seventh Mr. Gist 
came in and reported that La Force, with 
a detachment of about fifty men, had 
been seen at his place, about fifteen 
miles distant, and that he had just come 
upon their tracks within five miles of 
the camp, whereupon Washington sent 
a detachment of seventy-five men in pur- 
suit of him and his band, but the scouts 
returned without having discovered the 
enemy. 

The Half-King Joins Washington. 

Between eight and nine o'clock that 
same night a messenger arrived from 
Half-King, who with his followers was 
then encamped at the Big Rock, about 
six miles off, with the information that 
he had tracked two men who were out 
as scouts, and was satisfied that the 
whole force was in ambush near by. 
Washington, fearing a stratagem, left a 
strong guard to protect the baggage, and 
with a detachment of forty men set out 
before ten o'clock to join the Indian al- 
lies. They groped their way along the 



24 WASHINGTON'S AND 

footpath in a heavy rain and murky 
darkness, so that it was nearly sunrise 
when they reached the encampment of 
Half-King. From here the Half-King 
and his associate sachem, Scarooyada — 
or Monacatootha, conducted Washington 
to the tracks which had been discovered. 
Upon these he put two of his Indians, 
who followed them up like hounds and 
brought back word that they had traced 
them to a low bottom surrounded by 
rocks and trees, where the French were 
encamped, having built a few cabins for 
shelter from the rain. 

A plan of attack was now determined 
upon to come upon them by surprise. 
Washington and his men formed on the 
right, Half-King and his men on the left, 
and with ghost-like silence they advanc- 
ed to the brow of the ledge of rocks be- 
neath which the French were encamped. 
Washington was in the advance, and as 
the French caught sight of him they flew 
to arms. A sharp fire ensued, which 
lasted for fifteen minutes, when the 
French gave way and ran. They were 
soon overtaken, and twenty-one pris- 
oners taken. Washington's men on the 
right received the fire of the enemy. One 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 25 

man was killed and three wounded near 
Washington, the Indians sustaining no 
loss. The French had ten killed and one 
wounded. One, a bare-footed Canadian, 
named Mouceau, escaped and carried 
the tidings of the defeat to the Forks. 
Monsieur Jumonville, their commander, 
was shot through the head at the first 
fire, and his fate has been made the sub- 
ject of lamentation in prose and verse. 
The Indians soon scalped the dead, and 
would have killed and scalped the pris- 
oners had not Washington prevented 
them. 

This battle, fought at daybreak on the 
morning of May 28, 1754, was the first 
in which Washington ever took a part; 
it was the initial battle which lost to the 
French so much of her possessions on 
American soil, and as Francis Parkman 
tersely put it, "in it was fired the shot 
that was heard around the world." Wash- 
ington, in writing of this occasion, said : 
"And, believe me, the whistling of the 
bullets had a most charming sound." 

Jumonville was a native of Picardy, 
one of the old French provinces border- 
ing on the English Channel. His name 
was N. Coulon de Jumonville, and he 



26 WASHINGTON'S AND 

was at the age of twenty-nine years, 
therefore seven years the senior of 
Washington. Early in life he came to 
Canada and married. He left a widow 
and one daughter. In 1755, one year 
after his death, the widow was pension- 
ed in a small sum, and in 1775 the 
daughter, then grown to womanhood, 
took the veil as Charlotte Amiable. 

Of the twenty-one prisoners taken at 
this engagement the two most important 
were an officer of some consequence, 
named Drouillion, and the subtle and re- 
doubtable La Force. As Washington 
considered the latter an arch mischief- 
maker, who had made considerable 
trouble at Venango the year previous, 
he now rejoiced to have him within his 
power. The prisoners were conducted 
to the camp at the Great Meadows, and 
from there, on the following day, were 
sent under a strong escort to Governor 
Dinwiddie, who was at Winchester, 
Virgina. They were treated with great 
courtesy by Washington, who furnished 
Drouillion and La Force with clothing 
from his own scanty stock, and at 
their request gave them letters to the 
governor bespeaking for them the "re- 







m i 




BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 27 

spect and favor due their character and 
personal merit." 

The Half-King was now fully aroused. 
He sent the scalps of the Frenchmen 
slain in the late skirmish, accompanied 
with black wampum and hatchets, to all 
his allies, summoning them to take up 
arms and join him at Redstone Creek, 
"for their brothers, the English, had now 
begun in earnest." He went off to his 
home, promising to send down the river 
for all the Mingoes and Shawanees and 
to be back at the camp on the thirteenth 
with thirty or forty warriors accom- 
panied by their wives and children. To 
assist him in the transportation of his 
people and their effects thirty men were 
detached, and twenty horses. 

A pile of stones and a rude cross mark- 
ed the grave of Jumonville until July 
4th, 1908, when a tablet was erected 
bearing the following inscription : 

Here lie the mortal remains 

of 

N. Coulon de Jumonville, 

who in command of thirty-three 

French regulars, was surprised and 

killed in an engagement with Major 



28 WASHINGTON'S AND 

George Washington, in command 
of forty provincial troops, and Tan- 
nacharison, the Half-King, in com- 
mand of a company of friendly Indi- 
ans, on May 28, 1754. 

This action was the first conflict 
at arms between the French and 
English for supremacy in the Mis- 
sissippi valley. 

Erected July 4th, 1908, under the 
auspices of the Centennial Commit- 
tee of 1904. 

Washington's situation now was ex- 
tremely perilous. Contrecoeur had fin- 
ished the fort from which Ward had been 
driven. He had already nearly one thou- 
sand men with him, and reenforcements 
and Indian allies were on their way to 
join him. Messengers sent by Jumon- 
ville previous to the late affray apprised 
him of the weakness of the encampment 
at the Great Meadows. 

Washington lost no time in enlarg- 
ing the entrenchments and erecting pali- 
sades. He wrote to Colonel Fry, who 
lay sick at Will's Creek, having been 
seriously injured by his horse falling on 
him, urging immediate reenforcements, 




Jumonville's Grave 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 29 

but at the same time declaring his reso- 
lution to "fight with unequal numbers 
rather than give up one inch of what he 
had gained." The Half-King and Queen 
Aliquippa and twenty-five or thirty fami- 
lies, making in all eighty to one hundred 
Indians, arrived at the Great Meadows on 
June first. 

Colonel Fry died on the thirty-first of 
May, a few days after the accident, and 
Major Muse took command and joined 
Washington, where he arrived on the 
ninth of June with the residue of the Vir- 
ginia regiment and nine swivel guns, 
powder and balls. Major Muse had 
served with Lawrence Washington in the 
campaign of the West Indies, and had 
been with him in the attack on Cartha- 
gena. He had been Washington's in- 
structor three years before in the manual 
of arms, and was now acting as quarter- 
master. By the death of Colonel Fry 
the chief command devolved upon Major 
Washington, who was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel on June fourth. 

Captain James Mackaye, with an inde- 
pendent company of the royal army, com- 
posed of one hundred men from South 
Carolina, joined Washington on the tenth 



30 WASHINGTON'S AND 

of June, bringing with him sixty beeves, 
five days' allowance of flour and some 
ammunition, but no cannon, as was ex- 
pected. Captain Mackaye bearing a 
king's commission, could not receive or- 
ders from a provincial colonel, and camp- 
ed separate from Washington's forces ; 
neither would his men do work on the 
road, as it was not incumbent upon them 
as king's soldiers to perform such meni- 
al service. The force now encamped at 
the Great Meadows numbered about four 
hundred men. 

Leaving Captain Mackaye with one 
company to guard the fort, to thus 
avoid mutiny and a conflict of authority, 
Washington and the rest of the force, 
on the sixteenth of June, pushed on over 
Laurel Hill, cutting the road with ex- 
treme labor, to Gist's plantation — a dis- 
tance of about thirteen miles, consum- 
ing two weeks in the work, taking with 
him some wagons and the swivels. 

On June twenty-seventh a detachment 
of seventy men under command of Cap- 
tain Lewis was sent forward to clear the 
road from Gist's to the mouth of Red- 
stone. Ahead of this was sent a party 
under Captain Poison, who were to re- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 31 

connoitre. Meanwhile Washington com- 
pleted his movements to Gist's. 

Washington Retreats to the Great Mead- 
ows and Strengthens Fort Necessity. 

On the twenty-ninth a council of war 
was held at Gist's at which it was de- 
termined to concentrate all the forces at 
this point, where some entrenchments 
had been already thrown up, with a 
view of making a stand. This entrench- 
ment was near Gist's Indian's hut and 
a fine spring, and within fifty rods of the 
geographical center of Fayette County. 

Captains Lewis and Poison were call- 
ed in, and Captain Mackaye and his 
compan}^ were sent for. They all came, 
but upon receiving later news of the 
superior force of the French it was ap- 
parent that a stand here was inexpedi- 
ent and that they should fall back as far 
as Will's Creek and await reenforce- 
ments. The private baggage was left be- 
hind, and the horses of the officers were 
laden with ammunition and public stores. 
The soldiers of the Virginia regiment 
dragged the nine swivels by hand, the 
members of the independent company 



32 WASHINGTON'S AND 

looking on and offering no aid. They 
reached the Great Meadows on the first 
day of July. Here the men were so ex- 
hausted by their labors and lack of nour- 
ishment that they could not draw their 
swivels nor carry their baggage on their 
backs any farther. They had been eight 
days without bread. They had milch 
cows for beef, but had no salt with which 
to season it, nor were the supplies which 
had been left at the stockade adequate to 
sustain the march. It was thought best, 
therefore, to here await both the supplies 
and reenforcements, having now but two 
poor teams and a few equally poor pack 
horses. 

Washington immediately set his men 
to work to strengthen the fortifications, 
and under the supervision of Captain Sto- 
bo a ditch and additional dimensions 
and strength were given to the fort, 
which was now given the name of Fort 
Necessity on account of the extreme 
need of the troops. 

Hearing of the arrival at Alexandria of 
two independent companies from New 
York some days before it was supposed 
that they might by this time have arriv- 
ed at Will's Creek, and a messenger was 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 33 

dispatched to urge them up. Horses 
were hired to go to Will's Creek for more 
ammunition and provisions, Gist endeav- 
oring to have the artillery hauled out by 
Pennsylvania teams. It was ascertained 
that the two independent companies from 
New York and the one from North 
Carolina would fail to arrive until too 
late, and they only reached Will's Creek 
after the surrender of Forty Necessity. 
No artillery came in time, only ten of the 
thirty four-pound cannon and carriages 
which had been sent from England 
reaching Will's Creek until too late. 

Besides the Indians already mentioned 
as crowding into the fort, many of the 
settlers with their families sought pro- 
tection under the English arms. The 
warriors expected and promised by the 
Half-King from the Muskingum and 
Miami countries failed to join Washing- 
ton. 

From the time news reached Fort Du- 
quesne of the defeat of Jumonville the 
greatest activity prevailed. On the 
twenty-eighth of June, just one month 
after that affair, a force of five hundred 
French and one hundred Indians, after- 
wards augmented to four hundred, left 



54 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Fort Duquesne under command of M. 
Coulon de Villiers, a half-brother to Ju- 
monville, who sought the command as a 
special favor to enable him, as he termed 
it, to avenge the "assassination" of his 
kinsman. 

De Villiers passed up the Mononga- 
hela on the thirtieth of June, and then 
moved on to Gist's settlement, a distance 
of about sixteen miles, reaching the place 
early the morning of the second of July. 
Opening fire upon the rude half-finished 
fort, and receiving no response, he found 
the place deserted. He thereupon pre- 
pared to return to Fort Duquesne, when 
a deserter arrived from Fort Necessity, 
who revealed the whereabouts and 
wretched condition of Washington's 
forces. He concluded to press on in pur- 
suit of the English. He ascended the 
mountain by the road just opened by 
Washington, passed within five hundred 
yards of where his half-brother had fal- 
len a little over a month before, and came 
within sight of Fort Necessity, after a 
rainy night, early on the morning of the 
third of July. He immediately delivered 
the first fire from the woods, at a dis- 
tance of four or five hundred yards. The 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 35 

first position taken by the French was in 
the northwest, but afterwards they took 
position on the east and southeast, near 
the fort. Washington formed his men 
on the south, in the meadow outside the 
fort, in order to draw the enemy into an 
open encounter. Failing in this he re- 
tired behind the lines. The heavy rains 
the previous night had made the trenches 
untenable for Captain Mackaye's com- 
pany. The French then took position 
on an eminence on the north, about 
sixty yards distant, and the Indians took 
position behind trees and in tree tops. 
For nine hours, during a rain storm, the 
assailants poured an incessant shower of 
balls upon the little band crowded with- 
in the lines of the fort. The English re- 
plied with vigor, and toward six o'clock 
in the evening the conflict grew in ani- 
mation, and continued until eight o'clock. 
Washington's tranquil presence encour- 
aged his men and deceived the enemy. 

Washington Makes His First and His 
Last Surrender. 

De Villiers, fearing his ammunition 
would fail, proposed a parley, which 
Washington at first declined, but when 



36 WASHINGTON'S AND 

repeated it was granted. The articles of 
capitulation were written in the French 
language, which, after sundry modifica- 
tions in Washington's favor, were sign- 
ed in duplicate — in the rain, by the light 
of a candle — by Captain James Mackaye, 
Lieutenant Colonel George Washington 
and Coulon Villiers. According to the 
articles agreed to the garrison were al- 
lowed to remove all their belongings ex- 
cept the artillery and to march out with 
drums beating, and to have protection 
from insult or injury by the French or 
Indians. The English were to deliver up 
the officers, two cadets and the prisoners 
made at the defeat of Jumonville, and 
send them under safeguard to Fort Du- 
quesne within two months and a half at 
the farthest. A duplicate of the articles 
was fixed upon one of the posts of the 
stockade. Jacob Van Braam and Robert 
Stobo, both captains, were delivered as 
hostages to the French officer as surety 
for the faithful compliance of the English 
to the articles of capitulation. 

There were at the encampment at the 
Great Meadows at the time of the sur- 
render about four hundred persons. 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 37 

In this engagement it is reported that 
Washington lost thirty men killed and 
forty-two wounded. Captain Mackaye's 
loss was never reported. The French 
had two men killed and seventy wound- 
ed^,two whereof were Indians. 

By daylight the following morning 
the English flag was struck and the 
French flag took its place. The humil- 
iated garrison took the situation as 
cheerfully as possible under the circum- 
stances, and with banners flying and 
drums beating, the little army wend- 
ed its way towards Will's Creek. In 
its wake followed a retinue of settlers 
and adherents. The lilies of France now 
floated in undisputed victory over every 
fort, trading post and mission from the 
Allegheny Mountains westward to the 
Mississippi River. No sooner had the 
English garrison filed out of Fort Ne- 
cessity than the French began its demo- 
lition. This accomplished to their grati- 
fication they began retracing their steps 
toward the mouth of Redstone the same 
day, for fear of re-enforcements as had 
been requested by Washington, and en- 
camped about two leagues distant — per- 
haps at the Big Rock, where the Half- 



38 WASHINGTON'S AND 

King had encamped the night before the 
attack on Jumonville. Doubtless DeVil- 
liers turned aside and visited the spot 
where his half-brother had fallen and 
tenderly covered the remains with earth 
and stone to prevent their destruction 
by wild beasts and to mark the spot of 
their last resting place. 

They reached the abandoned entrench- 
ment at Gist's on the fifth, and after de- 
molishing what was of it they burned all 
the contiguous houses. They reached 
the mouth of Redstone at ten o'clock 
next day, where they proceeded to burn 
the Hangard and then re-embarked on 
the Monongahela, returning to Fort Du- 
quesne on the seventh. 

Fort Necessity was in a glade between 
two eminences, which were covered with 
forests, except within sixty yards of it. 
The road by which Washington's army 
had advanced passed within a few feet 
on the south, and Great Meadow run 
skirted the base line on the north. 

The fort was in the form of an obtuse 
angled triangle of one hundred and five 
degrees, its base resting on Great Mea- 
dow Run, about two perches of which 
were thrown across the stream and con- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 39 

nected with the base by lines perpendic- 
ular to the opposite lines of the triangle. 
The base was eleven perches long, the 
western seven perches and the eastern 
line six perches. About fifty square 
perches of land, or nearly one-third of 
an acre, were included within these lines. 
The embankments in 1816 were still 
three feet high above the level of the 
meadow. The outside trenches, in which 
Captain Mackaye's men were stationed 
when the fight began, and from which 
they were flooded out, were already filled 
up, but inside the lines were ditches of 
about two feet in depth, formed by 
throwing the earth up against the pali- 
sades. It is ten miles east of Union- 
town, and about eight hundred yards 
south of the National Road. 

The swivel cannon captured at the 
surrender, excepting the one allowed to 
be taken away by Washington's men, 
were left at the fort, where in after years 
they were found and used by emigrants 
for firing salutes. Eventually they were 
taken to Kentucky to be used by the set- 
tlers in defense against the Indians. 

The night following the surrender 
Washington's army encamped barely 



40 WASHINGTON'S AND 

three miles distant from the fort. It la- 
boriously wended its way, the sick and 
wounded being carried by their fellows, 
to Will's Creek, where the foremost ar- 
rived on the ninth. 

Personnel of the Officers Engaged. 

M. Coulon de Villiers, captain of His 
Majesty's troops, was a half-brother to 
Jumonville, and was of a family of seven 
brothers, six of whom lost their lives in 
the American wars. De Villiers was 
taken prisoner by the English at the cap- 
ture of Fort Niagara in 1770. 

Captain Mackaye assisted Colonel 
James Innes in the construction of Fort 
Cumberland, and afterward became one 
of the justices of the peace for West- 
moreland County, Pa., and lived at Pitts- 
burgh. He had been holding court at 
Hannastown and returned home on the 
ninth of April, 1774, and was arrested on 
the following day by Dr. Connelly under 
authority of the governor of Virginia. 
Connelly was holding court at Fort Dun- 
more under authority of Virginia, and 
Mackaye holding court at Hannastown 
under authority of Pennsylvania. He 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 41 

was sent, with other justices, to Staun- 
ton to be lodged in jail, but was permit- 
ted to go to Williamsburg, to present an 
account of his arrest and was allowed to 
return home. Colonel Mackaye was sta- 
tioned at Kittanning to succeed Van 
Swearingen at Fort Armstrong in July 
20, 1776, with his battalion, and remain- 
ed at that post until the fifteenth of De- 
cember, when he was, against the re- 
monstrances of the inhabitants, ordered 
elsewhere. 

Captain Adam Stephens, to whom 
Washington gave a major's commission, 
became a captain in the Virginia regi- 
ment at Braddock's defeat and was 
wounded in the action at that time. He 
rose to be a colonel in the Virginia 
troops, and was with Grant at his de- 
feat at Fort Duquesne. He became a 
brigadier general, and in February, 1779, 
was made a major general in the Revo- 
lutionary War. He was stationed at 
Fort Cumberland in November 1775, as 
lieutenant colonel by Governor Innes, of 
North Carlina, who had been in com- 
mand at that place. While here there 
arose a dispute between Stephens and 
Captain Dagworthy as to rank, and Ma- 



42 WASHINGTON'S AND 

jor General Shirley, who had succeeded 
Braddock in command of the colonies, 
had Dagworthy removed. 

General Stephens was born about 1718 
in Pennsylvania, and migrated to Vir- 
ginia in 1738. He died in 1791 and was 
buried on his own plantation, a part of 
which is now embraced within the town 
limits of Martinsburg, Virginia. 

Captain Robert Stobo was the only 
son of William Stobo, a merchant of 
Glasgow, in which city Robert was born 
in 1727. His father and mother both 
dying when he was young, he came to 
Virginia to serve in a store which was 
owned by some Glasgow merchants. He 
became a favorite of Governor Dinwid- 
die, who in 1754 appointed him the old- 
est captain of the Virginia regiment then 
raised. He was the engineer of Fort 
Necessity, and was one of the two host- 
ages given up by Washington to be tak- 
en by the French to Fort Duquesne to 
be there held until the return of the 
French officers taken in the fight with 
Jumonville. The governor of Virginia 
refusing to comply with Washington's 
agreement and release the French offi- 
cers, Stobo with Van Braam was sent 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 43 

to Canada. They were the first English 
military prisoners at Fort Duquesne. 
He was allowed much privilege as a pris- 
oner until after the defeat of Braddock, 
when a great change was made in the 
treatment he received. The plans of 
Fort Duquesne, an exact description of 
which he had forwarded to Governor 
Dinwiddie, and the information he had 
furnished, were captured among Brad- 
dock's effects and published. The conse- 
quence was that Stobo was ordered in- 
to close confinement. Subsequently he 
was tried and sentenced to be executed. 
The sentence was deferred, and at length 
he effected his escape and arrived at 
Louisburg, on the Island of Cape Bre- 
ton, shortly after General Wolf had 
sailed for Quebec. He immediately re- 
turned to Quebec and afforded General 
Wolf much important information. He 
returned to Virginia in 1759, from 
whence he went to England. His heirs 
got an extra allowance of one thousand 
pounds and nine thousand acres of land 
in Kentucky for his services. 

Captain Jacob Van Braam, as well as 
Adjutant Muse, had been a campaign- 
ing comrade of Lawrence Washington, 



44 WASHINGTON'S AND 

and had been in the British army. He 
professed to be a complete master of 
fencing, and gave George Washington, 
when a youth, instructions in sword 
exercise. He was a Dutchman who 
knew a little French, and having served 
Washington as a French interpreter the 
previous year on his mission to the forts 
on French creek, he was called upon to 
interpret the articles of capitulation at 
the surrender of Fort Necessity. It was 
through his stupidity as an interpreter 
that Washington was placed under the 
ban of an assassin by the French. For 
this blunder Van Braam was condemned 
of treachery by the House of Burgesses. 
He was given up by Washington to the 
French to be held as a hostage, along 
with Captain Stobo, until the return of 
the French officers taken at the defeat 
of Jumonville. By the refusal of Gover- 
nor Dinwiddie to comply with Washing- 
ton's agreement Van Braam was kept 
some time at Fort Duquesne and then 
sent to Quebec, along with Captain Sto- 
bo, where he was held until the conquest 
of Canada by the English. He returned 
to Virginia in 1760. He was awarded an 
allowance of five hundred pounds and 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 45 

nine thousand acres of land in Kentucky 
for his services. 

Captain Andrew Lewis became a cap- 
tain in Braddock's campaign, but had 
no command in the fatal action. He was 
with Major Grant in his defeat at Grant's 
Hill in 1758. He became the General 
Lewis of Bottetourt in the great battle 
with the Indians at Point Pleasant in 
Dunmore's war of 1774, and was a dis- 
tinguished general officer in the Revolu- 
tion. It was he whom it was said Wash- 
ington recommended for commander-in- 
chief of the American army. 

Lieutenant William Poison became a 
captain in Braddock's campaign and was 
killed in the defeat. He was a native of 
Scotland. 

Ensign Peyronie was a French Pro- 
testant chevalier, settled in Virginia, 
was badly wounded in the attack on Fort 
Necessity and became a Virginia cap- 
tain in Braddock's campaign. Pie was 
killed on the field. 

Dr. James Craik, a Scotchman by 
birth, but a resident of Alexandria, Vir- 
ginia, had long been a friend and the 
family physician of Washington. He ac- 
companied Washington as physician and 



46 WASHINGTON'S AND 

surgeon from the beginning to the end 
of this campaign. He attended Colonel 
Fry, who died at Will's creek from in- 
juries sustained by the falling of his 
horse. He was the companion of Wash- 
ington when on his journey to the west 
in 1770, and was also his physician 
through his last illness. He entered the 
Revolutionary army as a surgeon and 
rose to the first rank. He was director- 
in-chief of the military hospital at York- 
town in 1781. He named one of his 
sons George Washington Craik, who 
became private secretary to President 
Washington in his second term. Dr. 
Craik was willed a chair and a desk, as 
mementoes, by Washington. Besides 
drawing his pay as both officer and sur- 
geon in the campaign of 1754, Dr. Craik 
was awarded one thousand seven hun- 
dred and ninety-four acres of land. On 
the third of September, 1788, he obtained 
from Pennsylvania patents for two tracts 
of land in Franklin township, Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania. One was known 
as "Bowland's Camp," and the other as 
"Freeman's Sword," each containing 
four hundred and three acres. They 
were both sold the twenty-seventh of 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 47 

March, 1791, to Samuel Bryson. Dr. 
Craik died on his plantation, within five 
miles of Mt. Vernon, on the sixth of 
February, 1814. 

Queen Aliquippa, with her son, lived 
at the confluence of the Youghiogheny 
with the Monongahela. She was an In- 
dian squaw of some importance among 
her people, and received her royal title 
from the English. She became offended 
because Washington did not stop to see 
her on his way to the French forts in 
November, 1753, an offense for which he 
fully atoned on his return by presenting 
her with a few presents, among which 
the most highly prized was a bottle of 
rum. ^ y> 

Christopher Gist was of English de- 
scent. His grandfather, Christopher 
Gist, died in Baltimore county in 1691. 
His father, Richard Gist, was a survey- 
or; was one of the commissioners in 
1729 for laying off the town of Balti- 
more, and was presiding magistrate in 
1736. Christopher was one of three sons 
— Christopher, Thomas and Nathaniel, 
who all married sisters. Christopher 
had three sons — Nathaniel, Richard, 
Thomas — and two daughters, Nancy and 



48 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Violet. He was a leading character of 
the times, being by nature an adventur- 
er. In 1748 his residence was on the 
Yadkin, in North Carolina. He was em- 
ployed by the "Ohio Company" in lo- 
cating their grant of five hundred thou- 
sand acres of land on the Ohio River, the 
duties of which he performed in the 
years 1751 and 1752. On his return to 
his home in the former year he found 
the Indians had made an incursion into 
that settlement, had murdered many of 
hi? neighbors and burned the houses. 
His family had fled to the banks of the 
Roanoke, in Virginia, a distance of thir- 
ty-five miles. His residence was on the 
Yadkin River, and on the west side of a 
stream known as Sawmill Creek, near 
and west of Reddie's River, near the 
present town of Wilkesbarre, in Wilkes 
County, North Carolina. He was resid- 
ing at Will's Creek when Washington se- 
cured his services as guide to the French 
posts, near Lake Erie, in November, 
1753. On their way out and also on 
their return he stopped at Gist's new 
settlement at the western foot of Laurel 
Hill. Washington also spent the night 
with Gist at Will's Creek on his return. 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 49 

With his sons, Nathaniel and Thomas, 
he was with Braddock on the fatal field, 
and for his services received a grant of 
twelve thousand acres of land from the 
king of England. He, with George Cro- 
ghan, assisted in building the stockade 
at the Forks of the Ohio for the Ohio 
Company in 1754, and was purchasing 
agent for the Virginia soldiers stationed 
at Fort Mount Pleasant. After the de- 
feat of Braddock, 1755 till 1765, he was 
engaged in various public capacities in 
the south and southwest. In the latter 
year he returned to his settlement west 
of the mountains, and after settling his 
family, he returned to his old home 
where he died of small-pox. 

His son, Thomas Gist, remained at 
this new settlement until his death, in 
1786, and was a man of considerable in- 
fluence. Richard was killed at the bat- 
tle of King's Mountain. Nancy made her 
home with Thomas until his death, when 
she moved with her brother Nathaniel 
to their grant in Kentucky, where the 
family of Nathaniel Gist became quite 
prominent. Violet married William 
Cromwell, and lived on this new settle- 
ment. 



50 WASHINGTON'S AND 

What at that time was known as the 
Gist Plantation was subsequently war- 
ranted by Virginia to Thomas Gist in 
right of Christopher Gist. There were 
five surveys made the twenty-sixth of 
October, 1785, aggregating two thou- 
sand, five hundred acres in one body. 
After the death of Thomas Gist this 
whole tract was sold to Colonel Isaac 
Meason, who gave it the name of Mt. 
Braddock. On this he erected a large 
stone mansion in 1802. His son, Isaac 
Meason, Jr., succeeded him in the pos- 
session of this farm, and after the death 
of the latter his widow sold it to Isaac 
A Beeson. 

Dr. Hugh Mercer was a Scotchman, 
having fled to Virginia from the service 
of the Pretender, on the fatal field of Cul- 
loden. He accompanied the Virginia 
troops as a surgeon. He also accom- 
panied Braddock's army and was badly 
wounded on the fatal field. Being un- 
able to escape in the general flight, he 
concealed himself behind a tree, from 
which place he was a forced witness to 
the scalping and plundering of the dead 
and dying. After darkness he left his 
hiding place and by the aid of the stars 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 51 

and streams, after several days of pain- 
ful suffering, reached Fort Cumberland. 
He served as captain in Colonel Arm- 
strong's expedition against the Indians 
at Kittanning, in 1756, from which he 
again returned severely wounded to Fort 
Cumberland. He finally became a field 
officer in the Revolution and fell at 
Princeton in January, 1777. 

The Proprietories of Pennsylvania, on 
March 2, 1771, granted to Dr. Hugh Mer- 
cer, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, two 
tracts of land, about three and a half 
miles from Stewart's Crossing, now in 
Bullskin township, Fayette County, con- 
taining two hundred and eighty-two and 
one-half, and three hundred and eleven 
acres respectively, and the usual allow- 
ance. These tracts were sold by the ex- 
ecutors of Dr. Mercer to Isaac Meason 
the third of November, 1789. 

Lieutenant Thomas Waggener, with 
his company, supported that of Washing- 
ton at the attack on Jumonville, and 
these two companies received all the fire 
of the enemy. In this action he was 
wounded. He subsequently became a 
captain of the Virginia troops and as 
such accompanied Braddock in his cam- 



52 WASHINGTON'S AND 

paign and displayed in that fatal action 
signal good sense and gallantry, and es- 
caped unhurt. 

Tanacharison was a Seneca chief of 
great note, being head sachem of the 
mixed tribes which had migrated to the 
Ohio and its tributaries. He was sur- 
named the Half-King, being subordinate 
to the Iroquois confederacy. Washing- 
ton pronounced him a man of more than 
usual intelligence. In the spring of 1753, 
the Miami tribes under the leadership 
of Half-King, made a treaty at Carlisle 
with Benjamin Franklin, at which they 
plighted their friendship to the English. 
That Half-King proved faithful to his 
vow, history offers ample proof. His 
home was at Logstown, whence he ac- 
companied Washington to the French 
forts in 1753. He was at the Forks of 
the Ohio when Ensign Ward surren- 
dered that post, and vehemently protest- 
ed against the conduct of the French 
commander on that occasion. He ren- 
dered invaluable service in the detection 
and defeat of Jumonville, and by his dis- 
cretion and unswerving loyalty had won 
the admiration of Washington. 

When Washington's little army re- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 53 

traced its steps over the mountains, 
Half-King took his family and went to 
Anghquick, in Pennsylvania, where they 
were maintained at the expense of the 
colony. A short time after his removal 
to Aughquick he was taken sick and in 
October of this same year he died. His 
death was mourned with great lamenta- 
tion by both the Indians and the whites. 
Scarooyada succeeded him as sachem 
of the DelaAvare tribe. In April, 1755, 
the colony of Pennsylvania refused long- 
er to support them and their destitute 
families. This treatment and that receiv- 
ed at the hands of Braddock, created an 
antipathy in the breasts of the hitherto 
friendly Indians. 

Washington Retires to Mt. Vernon. 

In 1752 the Ohio Company concluded 
to establish this as a permanent trading- 
post, although this point was eighty 
miles west of the frontier settlements. 
Here they erected another storehouse 
and magazine, which was known as the 
New Storehouse. This was located on 
the Virginia side of the Potomac, and 
was near the place now occupied by the 



54 WASHINGTON'S AND 

abutment of the Potomac bridge. This 
structure was built of logs and was suf- 
ficiently commodious to accommodate a 
garrison and afford protection to settlers 
in case of an attack by Indians. 

Washington proceeded to Williams- 
burg, where he made a full report of the 
campaign to Governor Dinwiddie, and af- 
ter receiving a vote of thanks from the 
House of Burgesses for his bravery and 
gallant defense of his country, he retired 
to his home at Mount Vernon. 

After Washington's return to Wil- 
liamsburg Colonel James Innes, a 
Scotchman by birth, but a resident of 
North Carolina, marched to Will's Creek 
and on the first of September, 1754, took 
command of that post, which had been 
garrisoned by Rutherford's and Clark's 
independent companies from New York. 
These had been sent to join Washington, 
but got no farther than Winchester. 

Colonel Innes constructed a fort at the 
mouth of Will's Creek, with the assist- 
ance of Captain Mackaye, beginning the 
twelfth of September and completing the 
work in about one month. This he nam- 
ed Fort Mount Pleasant. It was garri- 
soned during the winter of 1754-55. The 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 55 

fort proper occupied almost the identical 
spot on which now stands the residence 
of James A. Milholland, known as the 
"Hoge House." This fort mounted four 
ten-pounders, besides swivels, and was 
favorably situated to keep the hostile In- 
dians in check. 

Washington Acquires a Title to the Site 

of Fort Necessity and Which He 

Held at the Time of His Death 

As early as 1767 Washington acquired 
from Virginia a pre-emption to a tract 
of land of three hundred and thirty-four 
acres under the name of Mt. Washing- 
ton, which included the site of Fort Ne- 
cessity. June 13, 1769, an application 
was sent in to the land office in right of 
William Brooks for three hundred acres 
called "Great Meadows," including an 
improvement made by a grant from Cap- 
tain Charles Edmundstone, patented 
February 18, 1782, to General George 
Washington. The patent from the su- 
preme Executive Council of Pennsylva- 
nia to General Washington recites that 
said tract of land was surveyed by virtue 
of an order issued June 13, 1769, by Wil- 



56 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Ham Brooks, who by deed dated the sev- 
enteenth day of October, 1771, conveyed 
said tract of land and the appurtenances 
unto George Washington in fee simple, 
and a warrant of acceptance of the survey 
issued to him, dated February 14, 1782. 
The consideration paid by Washington 
to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
was thirty-three pounds, fifteen shillings 
and eight pence, Pennsylvania money, 
which was some less than one hundred 
dollars. 

This tract was referred to in his last 
will, and owned by him at the time of 
his death. 

In December, 1776, the Virginia legis- 
lature proposed as adjustment to the 
boundary controversy that the western 
line of Maryland should be extended 
northward to the fortieth degree of lati- 
tude and thence westward along that 
parallel "until the distance of five de- 
grees of longitude from the Delaware 
should be accomplished. " This would 
have thrown the site of Fort Necessity 
a distance of several miles within the ter- 
ritory of Virginia, but no formal action 
was taken on the part of Pennsylvania 
to this proposition. The running of the 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 57 

Mason and Dixon line put an end to all 
controversy and secured to the Keystone 
state one of her cherished historic sites. 
After the death of Washington his ex- 
ecutors sold it to Andrew Parks, of Bal- 
timore, whose wife, Harriet, was a rel- 
ative and legatee of Washington. She 
sold it to General Thomas Meason, who 
sold it to Joseph Huston, from whom it 
was sold to Colonel Samuel Evans for 
the taxes in 1824, and, (it seems to have 
reverted back to Huston) sold as prop- 
erty of Huston by the sheriff to Honor- 
able Nathaniel Ewing, who sold it to 
James Sampey, April 6, 1836, whose ex- 
ecutors sold it to Godfrey Fazenbaker, 
December 29, 1856, for four thousand 
dollars. Mr. Fazenbaker's deed contain- 
ed the following clause : ''Excepting and 
reserving that piece heretofore conveyed 
by said executors to the Fort Necessity 
Washington Monument Association, 
with right of way and privileges, but if 
the conditions of the said asociation are 
not complied with the reservation is a 
nullity Mr. Fazenbaker, however, 
agreed to extend the time almost indef- 
initely should the association continue 



58 WASHINGTON'S AND 

its efforts to erect a monument at the 
old stockade. 

Mr. Lewis Fazenbaker, the son of 
Godfrey Fazenbaker, is the present own- 
er of the farm and says that the site of 
the fort has never been, nor never shall 
be, plowed over while it remains in the 
Fazenbaker name. 

Washington owned at the time of his 
death over sixteen hundred acres of land 
in Franklin and Washington townships, 
on which was erected a flouring mill, 
which is still in operation. This tract 
of land was sold to Colonel Israel 
Shreeve. 

An act of assembly was passed April 
6, 1850, incorporating the Fort Necessity 
Washington Monument Association, 
making Daniel Sturgeon, John Washing- 
ton, Samuel Y. Campbell, John Huston, 
Hervey Morris, Robert P. Flenniken, 
Andrew Stewart, Sebastian Rush, Dan- 
iel Kaine, Joshua B. Howell, William 
Stone, Zalmon Ludington and Isaac 
Beeson, of Fayette County, "and all oth- 
er persons who have subscribed, or shall 
hereafter subscribe, any sum for the erec- 
tion of a monument under the provis- 
ions of this act, and their successors or 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 59 

assigns, be and are hereby made a body 
corporate under the style of Fort Ne- 
cessity Washington Monument Associa- 
tion, the property of this corporation to 
be forever exempt from taxation." 

The first election of officers was to be 
held the first Monday in May, 1850, and 
thereafter to be held on the twenty-sec- 
ond day of February each year. The 
board of managers held their first meet- 
ing at the house of Samuel Y. Camp- 
bell, May 6, 1850, but for lack of a quo- 
rum, agreed to meet at the office of R. 
P. Flenniken, Esq., Saturday, the elev- 
enth. At this meeting Samuel Y. Camp- 
bell was elected president; Andrew 
Stewart, Hervey Morris, Joshua B. How- 
ell, Samuel A. Gilmore and R. P. Flen- 
niken, managers, and Isaac Beeson, treas- 
urer. 

A committee, consisting of Andrew 
Stewart, Sebastian Rush, Samuel Y. 
Campbell and Thomas R. Davidson, was 
appointed to secure a title to one acre 
of ground, embracing the site of Fort 
Necessity, together with right of way 
thereto. Two agents were appointed in 
each township of the county to solicit 
subscriptions for the purchase of the 



60 WASHINGTON'S AND 

ground and the erection of the monu- 
ment. At a meeting of the managers, 
June twenty-second, Mr. Stewart pre- 
sented the form of a deed of conveyance 
from the executors of James Sampey, 
conveying to the corporation one acre 
of ground, including the site of the fort, 
which form it was agreed should be ex- 
ecuted. 

Requests for contributions were sent 
to the President of the United States, 
the different heads of departments, the 
representatives in Congress from Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, Virginia and South 
Carolina, the literary institutions of the 
state, the governor, and to Major Dela- 
field and cadets of West Point, the Ma- 
sonic and Odd Fellow lodges and en- 
campments of the state. 

An effort was made March 2, 1852, to 
have the Topographical Department at 
Washington appoint a gentleman of the 
department to visit the site of Fort Ne- 
cessity and make a drawing, as near as 
circumstances would permit, of the orig- 
inal stockade for the purpose of having 
the same lithographed, to be used as an 
inducement for subscriptions. 

On August 6, 1851, Captain F. Clarke, 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 61 

who was then at Brownsville, was writ- 
ten to and solicited to visit the site and 
make a draft of the location and envi- 
rons. On August 14, 1 85 1, Captain K. 
Dawson was also requested to make a 
draft of the same. 

Agents were sent out to canvass Fay- 
ette and neighboring counties for sub- 
scriptions. Some little money was ob- 
tained ; some of the solicitors proved to 
be defaulters, and what funds did find 
their way to the treasury were consumed 
in stationery, postage and clerical work. 
So, after several months of heroic effort 
in a noble cause the Fort Necessity 
Washington Monument Association was 
doomed to a lingering death. 

In 1854, J. N. H. Patrick, Esq., editor 
of the Democratic Sentinel of Union- 
town, Pa., urged a celebration to be held 
on the Fourth day of July of that year 
with a view of making a move toward 
the erection of a monument at the site 
of the old stockade. Lodge No. 228 A. 
Y. M. of Uniontown and a large con- 
course of citizens visited the place and 
conducted suitable ceremonies, and a 
corner stone was placed near the center 
of the enclosure. David Shriver Stew- 



62 WASHINGTON'S AND 

art son of Hon. Andrew Stewart, per- 
formed the last named ceremony. 

Not long after the corner-stone was laid 
the contents., whatever they may have 
been, were removed, and some six years 
ago, the upper stone was pried from its po- 
sition, broken in two and left on the sur- 
face of the ground, a sad reminder of the 
vandalism liable to be perpetrated on any 
sacred object. The embankments have 
been worn down in the lapse of years 
until they are scarcely larger than a fur- 
row thrown up with a plow yet much of 
the outlines can be easily traced. 

In January, 1899, Hon. T. Robb Deyar- 
mon, of Fayette County, introduced in 
the lower House a bill entitled, "An act 
providing for the acquisition by the state 
of certain grounds at Fort Necessity, 
Fayette County, and making an appro- 
priation of ten thousand dollars there- 
for." This bill got as far as the commit- 
tee on appropriations, and there it was 
buried in oblivion. 

A magnificent and patriotic celebra- 
tion was held on the site of Fort Neces- 
sity, July 4th, 1904, in commemoration of 
the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary 
of the surrender of that fort. 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 63 

The patriotic sentiment of the citi- 
zens of Fayette County was aroused when 
Fort Necessity Lodge of I. O. O. F. took 
the iniative in a celebration of the one 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the 
surrender of Fort Necessity. Pressing 
invitations were sent throughout Fayette 
and adjoining counties, urging that an 
enthusiastic meeting be held at the site 
of the old fort and that patriotic ad- 
dresses appropriate to the occasion be 
made. 

The suggestion met with a most hap- 
py response, and upon the day of the oc- 
casion, long before daylight, the roads 
leading to this historic spot were crowd- 
ed with vehicles and persons on foot. 

A grand parade was formed on the 
National Road under Chief Marshal 
Lieutenant Colonel Everhart Bierer and 
his aide, M. A. Keifer, followed by Flut- 
ter's Silver Cornet Band, Co. C of Union- 
town under command of Capt. A. G. Bee- 
son, Co. D of Connellsville under com- 
mand of Capt. John L. Gans, Uniontown 
Fire Department, Co. A Boys Brigade 
under Lieut. Chas. Hall, Co. E under 
Sergeant Maj. L. S. Sloan, Co. F under 
First Sergeant Jay W. Johns, Co. G un- 



64 WASHINGTON'S AND 

der First Lieut. Ralph C. Kennedy and 
all under the command of Adjutant I. E. 
Keener. 

Next came the Soldiers' orphans from 
the Jumonville Soldiers' Orphan school 
under the care of Superintendent John 
A. Waters, Fort Necessity Lodge I. O. 
O. F., followed by a cavalcade most im- 
posing. 

It is estimated that fully 8,000 people 
participated in the celebration of the oc- 
casion, and it can be truthfully stated 
that not the slightest disorder marred 
the enjoyment of the day. 

The officers of this celebration com- 
mittee were, President, Hon. E. H. Rep- 
pert, Secretary, James Hadden, Treas- 
urer, M. H. Bowman. These were ably 
assisted by not only many of the promi- 
nent citizens of the town but throughout 
the county. 

The meeting at the grove was presid- 
ed over by Hon. E. H. Reppert who in- 
troduced the speakers. Rev. F. E. J. 
Lloyd of the Episcopal Church pro- 
nounced the invocation, after which 
Judge Reppert made some happy intro- 
ductory remarks and then introduced 
Robert F. Hopwood who read the Dec- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 65 

laration of Independence. Hon. George 
C. Sturgis of Morgantown, West Vir- 
ginia delivered a most able and patri- 
otic address. He was followed by Rev. 
Father A. A. Lambing of Wilkinsburg. 
The next speaker was Judge F. G. White 
of Pontiac, 111. 

Letters of regret from Senator P. C. 
Knox, Hon. Hampton L. Carson, Hon. 
J. P. Dolliver, Hon. Lott Thomas, John 
W. Beazell, Hon. Boyd Crumrine, Dr. 
T. N. Boyle, Dr. C. W. Smith, Dr. Cam- 
den M. Coburn and Gen. M. I. Luding- 
ton were read by John S. Ritenour, and 
the benediction was pronounced by Rev. 
W. H. Gladden of the M. P. Church of 
Connellsville. 

The services at the grove were enjoy- 
ed to the utmost by the vast throng who 
gave the speakers most respectful at- 
tention. 

A most bountiful dinner was served in 
the grove, after which a sham-battle took 
place between the troops, and another 
between the members of the boys' bri- 
gade all of which were greatly enjoyed 
by the spectators. 

The site of Fort Necessity remained 
unmarked until July 4th, 1908, when a 



66 WASHINGTON'S AND 

tablet was erected thereon bearing the 
following inscription : 

This tablet marks the site 

of 

Fort Necessity 

where Lieutenant Colonel George 
Washington, in command of four 
hundred provincial troops, after an 
engagement of nine hours, capitu- 
lated to M. Coulon de Villiers, in 
command of nine hundred French 
regulars and their Indian allies, on 
July 4th, 1754. 

Washington lost 30 men killed and 
42 wounded. Captain Mackaye's 
loss was never reported. The French 
had two men killed and 70 wounded, 
two whereof were Indians. 

Erected July 4th, 1908, under the 
auspices of the Centennial Celebra- 
tion committee of 1904. 




General Edward Braddock 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 67 



CHAPTER II. 

Expedition of Major General Edward 

Braddock Against the French at 

Fort Duquesne, 1755. 

Edward Braddock was born in Perth- 
shire, Scotland, about 1695, an d was the 
only son of Major General Braddock. He 
entered the army as ensign in the Gren- 
adier company, second regiment of the 
Coldstream Guards, on the eleventh of 
October, 1710, at the age of fifteen years. 
This was a very aristocratic division of 
the British army, and the bodyguard of 
royalty. From this his promotions were 
rapid. 

On the twenty-fifth of November, 
1754, Major General Edward Braddock 
was commissioned general-in-chief of His 
Majesty's forces in North America and 
received his instructions concerning his 
duties in relation to the encroachments 
of the French. Becoming impatient of 
the preparation of the troops he set sail 



63 WASHINGTON'S AND 

from Cork aboard the "Norwich" on the 
twenty-first of December, 1754, and ar- 
rived at Alexandria, Virginia, February 
20, 1755. His troops — the Forty-fourth 
regiment, under Colonel Sir Peter Hal- 
ket, and the Forty-eighth regiment, un- 
der Colonel Dunbar- — set sail on the four- 
teenth of January and landed in March, 
1755, and marched to Alexandria. These 
regiments were of the royal troops, and 
numbered five hundred men each. 

A council was held at Alexandria on 
the fourteenth of April, at which were 
present Honorable Augustus Keppel, 
commander-in-chief of His Majesty's 
ships, and the governors of Massa- 
chusetts, Virginia, New York, Pennsyl- 
vania and Maryland. Here three expedi- 
tions were planned, one of which was to 
be under the command of General Brad- 
dock with the British troops, with such 
aid as might be derived from Maryland 
and Virginia, to which were afterward 
added tAvo independent companies from 
New York. 

General Braddock was to move 
against the French at Fort Duquesne, 
and from thence to Canada. With this 
object in view he marched from Alex- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 69 

andria the twentieth of April, and reach- 
ed Fredericktown, Maryland, on the 
twenty-fourth. Passing through Win- 
chester he reached Fort Mount Pleasant 
on the ninth of May, to which point Sir 
John Sinclair, deputy quartermaster 
general, had preceded him about two 
weeks. General Braddock, having been 
designated by the Duke of Cumberland 
the captain general of the British army, 
requested of Governor Dinwiddie that 
the name of the new fort be changed 
from Fort Mount Pleasant to that of 
Fort Cumberland, by which name it was 
ever afterward known. Here, on the 
ioth of May, Washington was appointed 
aide-de-camp to His Excellency, Major 
General Braddock. 

Braddock's army now consisted of 
the Forty-fourth regiment, English in- 
fantry, Col. Sir Peter Halket; the Forty- 
eighth, Col. Thomas Dunbar; sundry in- 
dependent colonial companies, a com- 
pany of horse, a company of artillery, a 
company of marines, etc. The two in- 
dependent companies of New York, un- 
der command of Captains Rutherford 
and Gates, the latter to whom Burgoyne 
surrendered at Saratoga, had garrisoned 



70 WASHINGTON'S AND 

the fort during the winter of 1754-55. 
The field officers were Lieut. Cols. Bur- 
ton and Gage, the latter of Bunker Hill 
notoriety; Majors Chapman and Sparks, 
Major Sir John Sinclair, quartermaster 
general; Matthew Leslie, his assistant; 
Capt. Robert Orme, of the Coldstream 
Guards ; Christopher Gist and his son . j 
Nathaniel as guides ; Drs. James Clark O^ 
and Hugh Mercer. These had been with 
Washington in his campaign the previ- 
ous year. 

Braddock was here tendered the valua- 
ble services also of George Croghan, the 
Indian agent of Aughwick; Montour, the 
Indian diplomatist; Monacatootha, the 
successor of Half- King, whose acquaint- 
ance and friendship Washington had for- 
med when on his mission to Le Boeuf, 
with about 150 Seneca and Delaware In- 
dians, and Captain Jack with his com- 
pany of warriors and scouts. These of- 
fered their services without pay and to 
furnish their own arms, all on conditions 
that they were to dress, march and fight 
as they pleased and to be free from strict 
military discipline. 

With such a strict disciplinarian as 
Braddock such conditions could not for 



Fort Cumberland — 1755 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 71 

one moment be considered and the offer 
was peremptorily refused, whereupon 
Captain Jack with his band, together 
with nearly every Indian, turned upon 
his heel in disgust and marched back to 
the hills of the Juniata. 

Had Braddock accepted the services of 
these experienced warrors and scouts the 
result of his expedition can only now be 
conjectural, but the consequence of his 
refusal and of his strict adherence to 
military discipline history has amply re- 
corded. 

Captain Jack, who was also known as 
"Susquehanna Jack," "The Black Rifle," 
"The Black Hunter," and "The Wild 
Hunter of the Juniata," was a large, pow- 
erful and fearless frontier settler of the 
valley of the Juniata, through whose 
veins ran a goodly mixture of Indian if 
not a baser blood. 

Once upon returning from a long and 
weary chase he was horrified to find his 
cabin in ashes and the corpses of his mur- 
dered family scattered around. From 
this time to the day of his death his 
thirst for Indian blood could never be 
satisfied. His fame as an Indian fighter 



72 WASHINGTON'S AND 

soon spread from the head springs of the 
Susquehanna to the Potomac. 

The old pathway along which Captain 
Jack traveled, and in which he met his 
dusky foe in mortal combat, and in which 
so many fell a victim to his deadly rifle, 
is still plainly visible. 

His bones respose in a lonely grave 
near his favorite spring at the base of the 
mountain which bears his name and 
stands as a towering monument to per- 
petuate his memory. 

Reference has frequently been made to 
a monument that stands in the Falling 
Spring cemeterv at Chambersburg, Pa., 
which bears the following inscription: 
"Colonel Patrick Jack, an officer of the 
Colonial and Revolutionary wars, died 
January 25th, 1829, aged 91 years. '' 

This latter was not the Captain Jack 
who offered his services to Braddock, 
but was a resident of Chambersburg at 
the time of his death. 

Monacatootha, known also as Scaroo- 
yada, with a few of his followers, not 
more than eight in number, however, fol- 
lowed Braddock through the campaign 
and rendered valuable service. At a 
council held at Onondago by the Six 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 73 

Nations. Monacatootha had been select- 
ed to succeed Tanacharison or Half- 
King, as sachem. The clever pencil of 
the artist could not throw upon canvass 
a more dignified specimen of the noble 
race. The majestic form of this warrior 
as it towered above his followers lead- 
ing the van, followed by the glittering 
array of the first disciplined army whose 
martial tread ever awoke the echoes of 
these primeval forests, was grand in the 
extreme. His leggings were frilled with 
locks from the dried scalps of his con- 
quered foes ; his own scalp lock, plaited 
down his back, a well understood token 
of defiance, over which waved the plume 
feathers of the eagle, the emblem of 
American liberty, was further gaudily 
ornamented with the gorgeous plumage 
of the blue jay. On his noble breast was 
plainly tattooed a tomahawk, the emblem 
of war, and on each cheek he bore the 
signs of the hunter, the bow and arrow. 
The army had marched but a little, 
over twenty miles from Fort Cumber- 
land when Monacatootha, who was a lit- 
tle in advance, was surrounded and taken 
by some French and Indians. The for- 
mer were determined to put him to death 



74 WASHINGTON'S AND 

but the latter remonstrated and even 
threatened to join the English should the 
French carry out their design. The 
sachem was then lashed to a tree and 
left to his fate, but fortunately was soon 
found and released by his son and other 
Indians. 

While the army was encamped at 
Thicketty Run, July 4th, two of Monaca- 
tootha's men were sent to reconnoiter 
and returned with the scalp of a French 
officer which they had succeeded in 
taking within half a mile of the fort. 

On July 6th, while the army was on 
the march from Thicketty Run, by a dis- 
regard of a preconcerted signal, Manaca- 
tootha's son was fired upon and killed by 
some outraugers of Braddock's army. 
The general displayed great sorrow for 
the unfortunate occurrence and after 
due expressions of sympathy and dona- 
tions caused the body to be buried in the 
honors of war at the next encampment, 
which also received the name of "Mon- 
acatootha" in honor of the bereaved 
sachem. 

The Colonial Records and the Penn- 
svlvania Archives bear ample evidence 
that this noble sachem not only held a 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 75 

commission under the province of Penn- 
sylvania, but that his mature judgment 
was sought in the deliberations of the 
councils of the same. 

Braddock's whole force amounted to 
about 2150 men at Fort Cumberland. 
But by haughtily rejecting the proffered 
services of the Indians as scouts and 
guides, many of them retired to the 
mountains of the Juniata. Scarooyada 
and a few others, however, followed 
Braddock throughout the campaign. This 
sachem afterward, in a speech at Phila- 
delphia, denounced the French as cow- 
ards and the English as fools. 

Braddock at this time had under his 
command several officers, both white 
and Indian, who were far more compe- 
tent to command than he, and who, if 
permitted the opportunity, would doubt- 
less have led the troops to victory. 

On the 30th of May Sir John Sinclair 
and Major Chapman were sent forward 
with a detachment of 600 men to widen 
the road opened by Washington the pre- 
vious year, to advance as far as the Little 
Meadows and there erect a fort and col- 
lect provisions. On the 7th of June the 
first division, under Sir Peter Halket, 



76 WASHINGTON'S AND 

moved forward and on the 8th the second 
division, under Lieut. Col. Gage, of the 
Forty-fourth, and on the ioth the 
main body of the army, with the com- 
mander-in-chief left Fort Cumberland. 

Through the influence of Dr. Benja- 
min Franklin 150 wagons and 2000 
horses joined Braddock on the 8th of 
June, and the army was enabled to move. 
The first camp was called "Camp at the 
Grove," and from here orders were is- 
sued, and the commander-in-chief rest- 
ed till the 12th. He encamped at "Mar- 
tin's" on Saturday, June 14th. The army 
was seven days in reaching the Little 
Meadows, a distance of twenty miles 
from Fort Cumberland. Here a council 
was held, at which it was determined 
that Gen. Braddock, with 1200 men and 
12 pieces of cannon, should press on, 
leaving Colonel Dunbar and Major 
Chapman to follow by easy stages. At 
the Little Crossings, two miles west of 
the Little Meadows, Washington was 
taken down with a fever and was left un- 
der the care of Dr. Craik and a guard to 
await the arrival of Colonel Dunbar, who 
came up in two days. Washington had 
exacted, however, from Braddock, a 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 77 

promise not to make the attack on Fort 
Duquesne until he came up. The army 
reached the Great Crossings, a distance 
of 17 miles farther west, on the 23rd. 

The first encampment on Fayette 
County soil was at the ''Twelve Springs/' 
having marched from Squaw's Fort, near 
the Big Crossings, six miles. This en- 
campment was between what is now 
known as Mount Augusta and Marlow's, 
and south of the National Road. Here 
the army encamped the 24th. 

On the 25th the army made a memor- 
able march. Within about a quarter of 
a mile after starting a blufl was reached 
over which it was necessary to let down 
the carriages by the use of ropes and 
tackle. During the day's march three 
men were killed and scalped by the 
enemy, and some French and Indians 
were fired upon by the sentinels. 

The Site of Fort Necessity Passed With- 
out Notice. 

The ruins of Fort Necessity were pas- 
sed without halt or seeming notice, and 
the army camped about one mile be- 
vond the Great Meadows after a march 



78 WASHINGTON'S AND 

of seven miles. This encampment is 
known as the "Old Orchard Camp," and 
was reached late in the day. There may 
have been some superstitions belief 
which caused Braddock to pass the Great 
Meadows without a halt. 

Nothing was farther from the proud 
commander's mind while encamped at 
this place than the thought that within 
a little more than a fortnight the same 
should witness the disordered retreat of 
the remnant of his defeated army, should 
hear his dying moans and be his sepul- 
cher, but such it proved to be. 

The following day (26th) Braddock 
offered a bounty of five pounds for every 
scalp that his Indians and soldiers should 
take. On account of the roughness of 
the road the march was a distance of 
four miles only. This encampment was 
known as "Rock Fort" or "Great Rock," 
and was near a fine spring, now known 
as Washington's Spring. The rock was 
situated on the crest of Laurel Hill, and 
near the same as occupied by Half-King 
the year before, when he notified Wash- 
ington of the approach of Jumonville's 
party. Here they found another Indian 
camp, which had just been deserted. The 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 79 

fire was still burning, and a commission 
was found indicating that the party was 
under the command of Sieur Norman- 
ville. 

From "Rock Fort" the army marched 
on the 27th northward along the crest of 
Laurel Hill, passing within a few hun- 
dred feet of the scene of Jumonville's 
defeat, and to the eastward of the promi- 
nence, at the western foot of which was 
lately located the Jumonville Orphan 
school, and encamped at Gist's planta- 
tion, where Washington had commenced 
a stockade the year before, a distance of 
some eight miles from "Rock Fort/' 

On the 28th the army marched to the 
Youghiogheny and encamped at Stew- 
art's Crossing, a short distance below 
where the town of Connellsville now 
stands. The crossing was effected on the 
30th, and the army pursued a north- 
easterly course and passed through 
where the town of Mount Pleasant 
now stands, and west of Greens- 
burg to Bush fork of Turtle Creek 
Here Braddock left the Nemacolin 
Trail and turning to the westward 
encamped about two miles distant from 
the Monongahela River. Here Washing- 



80 WASHINGTON'S AND 

ton joined him on the evening of July 
8th, he having come forward with a de- 
tachment of ioo men with packhorses 
and provisions on July 3d, and was haul- 
ed to this place in a covered wagon. 

At 3 o'clock on the morning of July 
gth Col. Thomas Gage led the advance 
and crossed to the west bank of the Mon- 
ongahela by 8 o'clock, with a body of 
300 men. He was immediately followed 
by another body of 200 men. Next came 
the general with the column of artillery, 
the main body of the army and the bag- 
gage. This crossing: was near the site 
of the present town of McKeesport. The 
army then marched down three miles and 
halted to take dinner. Washington de- 
scribes the march and manoeuvers of 
the army at this place to be the grandest 
sight he had ever beheld. The recross- 
ing was effected just below the mouth of 
Turtle Creek, and by 1 o'clock the whole 
had recrossed the river. 

The Assault. 

Almost at this moment a sharp fire 
was heard upon the advance party, under 
Col. Gage, who was now ascending the 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 81 

hill about ioo yards from the terminus 
of the plain. A heavy fire of musketry 
was poured in upon his troops by an in- 
visible foe. The fire was returned at 
random, consequently to no effect. The 
advance became panic stricken and fell 
back, the officers all the while trying in 
vain to cause a rally and restore order. 
For nearly three hours the troops hud- 
dled together in confusion in the narrow 
pass and were being shot down by the 
enemy hidden in the ravines on each side. 
The Virginia provincials, understanding 
the Indian mode of warfare, would have 
taken to the trees and routed the enemy 
had Braddock permitted. He de- 
nounced them as cowards and dastards 
for treeing, and even struck many of 
them down with his sword, an act for 
which he soon paid the penalty, as the 
sequel will show. 

In the confusion of the battle more 
than half of the whole army were either 
killed or wounded, two-thirds of them 
being shot down by their own men. 
Braddock had four horses killed under 
him and at last, while on the fifth, he re- 
ceived a mortal wound which shattered 
his right arm and penetrated his lungs. 



82 WASHINGTON'S AND 

He was carried from the field. Had it 
not been for the devotedness of his aide, 
Capt. Orme, and the fidelity of Capt. 
Stewart, of Virginia, who was in com- 
mand of the light horse, the fallen gen- 
eral would have had his wish gratified, 
"that the scene of his disaster would also 
witness his death." He was wrapped in 
a silken sash taken from about his waist, 
which English officers were wont to 
carry, and was carried off the field by his 
faithful body servant, Bishop, whom, in 
his dying moments, he bequeathed to 
Washington. 

The silken sash in which he was borne 
from the field was kept, and after the 
Mexican war was presented to Gen. 
Zachary Taylor from whom it descended 
to his daughter, Mrs. Betty Dandridge, 
in whose possession it remained until 
her death. 

The Deadly Result. 

Out of eighty-nine commissioned offi- 
cers twenty-six were killed and thirty- 
seven wounded, and of the soldiers 430 
were killed and about 400 wounded, 
the killed being in excess of the wound- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 83 

ed. Every field officer, and every one on 
horseback, except Washington, who had 
two horses killed under him and four 
bullets through his coat, was either kill- 
ed or carried off the field wounded. 
Washington that day rode upon a pillow, 
so enfeebled and emaciated was he from 
the attack of fever; and yet, with great 
coolness, at the head of the provincials, 
he formed and covered the retreat. 

Sir Peter Halket and the gallant young 
secretary, Shirley, were among the kill- 
ed. Captain Orme saved his journal, 
which is now so highly prized as being 
an authentic and continuous record of 
this unfortunate campaign. All the artil- 
lery, ammunition, baggage and stores, to- 
gether with the dead and the dying were 
left on the fatal field. All the secre- 
tary's papers, with all the commanding 
general's orders, instructions and cor- 
respondence, together with the military 
chest, containing twenty-five thousand 
pounds in money, fell into the hands of 
the French. The Pennsylvania wagoners 
escaped to a man on their fleetest horses, 
some arriving at Dunbar's camp, a dis- 
tance of 40 miles, by 10 o'clock the next 
morning, and one or two wounded offi- 



84 WASHINGTON'S AND 

cers were carried into camp before noon 
of this same day. 

The French Contingent. 

M. de Contrecour was in chief com- 
mand at Fort Duquesne, under whom 
were De Beaujeu and Charles de Lang- 
dale. De Beaujeu, at the head of a force 
of 250 French and 650 Indians, marched 
out of Fort Duquesne at 9 o'clock on 
the morning of July 9th, and by half 
past twelve o'clock found himself in the 
presence of the English. De Beaujeu 
fell early in the battle and soon expired, 
and Dumas being next in command, led 
the attack after De Beaujeu fell. The 
loss of the French was slight, but fell 
chiefly on the officers, three of whom 
were killed and four wounded. Of the 
regular soldiers all but four escaped 
unwounded. The Canadians suffered 
still less in proportion to their number. 
The Indians, who won the victory, bore 
the principal loss. 

The remnant of Braddock's defeated 
army attempted to make a rally on the 
west side of the river to await reinforce- 
ments from Col. Dunbar, but in this they 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 85 

utterly failed. The Indians made no at- 
tempt to pursue the retreating army, but 
contented themselves with scalping and 
pillaging the dead. From this place 
Washington was ordered on to Dunbar 
for wagons, provisions and hospital 
stores. He rode all nig'ht in the rain and 
darkness and reached Dunbar at day- 
break. , 

Braddock was borne on a litter and 
reached Gist's plantation by 10 o'clock 
the next evening and lay at the Indian's 
spring that night awaiting surgical aid 
from Dunbar. Early in the night suc- 
ceeding the battle many reached the de- 
serted settlement of Gist. Here they 
met wagons and provisions with Wash- 
ington and a detachment of soldiers from 
Dunbar. These Braddock ordered to 
proceed to the relief of the stragglers 
still left behind. 

Sir John Sinclair was borne into Dun- 
bar's camp on the ioth, on a sheet, and 
Braddock was moved up the following 
day. Col. Dunbar, with Major Chapman, 
had been left at the Little Meadows, to 
follow on by easy stages with the heavy 
ordnance and supplies. They passed 
Fort Necessity on the 2nd of July, and 



86 WASHINGTON'S AND 

formed his final encampment on the sum- 
mit of Laurel Hill, a flat piece of land in 
close proximity to a fine spring, and 
within a few hundred yards of the fatal 
action with Jumonville. 

The panic-stricken fugitives came 
pouring into the encampment of Dun- 
bar; the drums beat to arms, the fright 
became contagious, and disorder reigned 
supreme. By order of Braddock barrels 
of powder, amounting to 50,000 pounds, 
were staved and the contents thrown in- 
to a pool which had formed below the 
spring; the shells were bursted and about 
150 wagons were burned to prevent them 
falling into the hands of the enemy. Col. 
Dunbar, in his report to Governor Shir- 
ley, states positively that there was not 
a gun of any kind buried. Many balls, 
bayonets and pieces of shells have been 
gathered up from the camp, and scarcely 
a museum of the state but contains many 
specimens. One collector has in his pos- 
session the half of a forty-pound shell 
which was made for an eight-inch gttn, 
and two solid shot weighing 12 pounds 
each. These bear the English mark of 
the "Broad Arrow." 

Since the removal of the Soldiers' 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 87 

Orphan school to the immediate neigh- 
borhood of the camp, in 1875, there have 
been collected enough pieces of shell 
and balls from which two small cannons 
were moulded. These weigh about 200 
pounds each. One is in Pittsburg and 
the other is mounted and kept at the 
school, where it is used for firing salutes. 
One of these small cannons was present- 
ed to the Abe Patterson Post No. 88 G. 
A. R., of Allegheny City. It was mount- 
ed on lumber taken from Perry's fleet. 

The retreat from Dunbar's camp was 
begun on the 13th, and by the same 
route as the advance had been made. An 
encampment was made at the Old Orch- 
ard, the same place as Braddock had en- 
camped on his way out. Braddock was 
silent all the first day after the defeat, 
and at night only said : "Who would 
have thought it?" All the next day he 
he was again silent, till at last he mut- 
tered : "We shall know better how to 
deal with them the next time," and died 
in a few minutes after. Before breathing 
his last the dying general bequeathed 
his favorite charger and his body ser- 
vant, Bishop, to Washington in recogni- 
tion of his faithfulness as a staff officer. 



88 WASHINGTON'S AND 

General Braddock's Death and Burial. 

General Braddock died on Sunday 
evening about 8 o'clock. July 13, 1755. 
He was wrapped in his cloak as a winding- 
sheet and buried at daybreak on Monday 
morning, at the camp, in the middle of 
the road, that the army in passing over 
the grave might obliterate every trace 
of its whereabouts, and thus avoid any 
desecration of the body by the Indians. 
The chaplain having been wounded, 
Washington read the Episcopal funeral 
service, and the dead general was buried 
with the honors of war. A few days 
after the retreat of Dunbar the French 
sent out a party who advanced as far as 
the deserted camp, and proceeded to 
complete the destruction of everything 
destructible that could be found. 

Braddock's Slayer. 

It has always been related that one 
Thomas Fossit fired the fatal shot that 
caused the death of General Braddock. 
Fossit was a soldier in Captain Chol- 
mondeley's company, having enlisted at 
Shippensburg, Pa. He was a large man, 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 89 

of great strength, rude habits and strong 
passions. He had a brother Joseph who 
was also in the same company. In the 
engagement at Braddock's field the pro- 
vincials took to the trees, in Indian 
fashion, and were doing good execution, 
but Braddock cursed them as dastards 
and cowards and cut many of them down 
with his sword. Tom Fossit saw the 
reckless general cut his brother down, 
and this was more than a man of his 
temperament could endure. He sought 
and obtained revenge. Fossit took up a 
tract of ioo acres of land at the junction 
of Braddock's and Dunlap's roads on the 
summit of Laurel Hill. This included 
the site of "Rock Fort" or "Big Rock" 
and ''Washington Springs." Here he kept 
a tavern for several years. He sold his 
rights to this tract April 29, 1788, to 
Isaac Phillips for the sum of fifty pounds. 
This stand was afterward known as 
Slack's tavern, and was considered a 
good stand until the National Road was 
opened over the mountains. In October, 
1816, Fossit was a pauper at Thomas 
Mitchell's, in Wharton township, and 
claimed then to be 104 years of age. He 
made his final home with Thomas Stew- 



90 WASHINGTON'S AND 

art, not far distant from Ohio Pyle, and 
at whose home he died at the remarkable 
age of 109 years. When intoxicated he 
would often relate the scenes of Brad- 
dock's defeat, and in obscure language 
hint to the circumstances of firing the 
fatal shot. He was said to have been 
married three times, and that two of his 
wives were killed by the Indians, and 
that his favorite, as he termed his "little 
Dutch wife,' was tomahawked before his 
eyes. He died about 1820. 

The Continued Retreat. 

The retreating army encamped at Lit- 
tle Meadows the following night after 
Braddock's death, a distance of 32 miles 
from Old Orchard Camp. Col. Dunbar 
arrived at Fort Cumberland by the 18th 
of July, and remained there until the 2nd 
of August. While here he was met with 
earnest requests from the governors of 
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia 
that he Avould post his troops on the 
frontier so as to afford some protection 
to the inhabitants. To all these en- 
treaties Dunbar turned a deaf ear, and 
continued his hasty march through the 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 91 

country, not considering himself safe un- 
til he arrived at Philadelphia. 

The Scattered Army. 

Washington remained at Fort Cumber- 
land for a few days, being in feeble 
health and still suffering from the effects 
of his illness. While here he wrote the 
following letter to Governor Dinwiddie : 

Fort Cumberland, July 18, 1755. 
Honorable Sir: — 

As I am favored with an opportunity, 
I should think myself inexcusable were I 
to omit giving you some account of our 
late action with the French on the Mon- 
ongahela, the 9th instant. We conduct- 
ed our march from Fort Cumberland to 
Frazer's, which is about seven miles from 
Fort Duquesne, without meeting any ex- 
traordinary event, having only a strag- 
gler or two picked up by the French 
Indians. When we came to this place 
we were attacked (very unexpectedly I 
must own) by about 300 French and 
Indians. Our number consisted of about 
1300 chosen men, well armed, chiefly 
regulars who were immediately struck 



92 WASHINGTON'S AND 

with such a deadly panic that nothing 
but confusion and disobedience of orders 
prevailed among them. The officers in 
general behaved with incomparable brav- 
ery, for which they greatly suffered, 
there being nearly 60 killed and wound- 
ed, a large proportion out of the number 
we had. 

Our poor Virginians behaved like men 
and died like soldiers, for T believe out 
of three companies that were there that 
day scarce 30 were left alive. Capt. Pol- 
son shared almost as hard a fate, for 
only one of his escaped ; in short the 
dastardly behavior of the English sol- 
diers exposed all those that were inclin- 
ed to do their duty to almost certain 
death, and at length, in despite of every 
effort, broke and ran like sheep before 
the hounds, leaving the artillery, am- 
munition and provisions and every indi- 
vidual thing amongst us as a prey for 
the enemy; and when we endeavored to 
rally them, in hopes of regaining our in- 
valuable loss, it was with as much suc- 
cess as if we had attempted to stop the 
w r ild boars on the mountains. 

The General was wounded behind the 
shoulder and in the breast, of which he 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 93 

died the third day after. His two aids-de- 
camp were both wounded, but are in a 
fair way of recovery. Col. Burton and 
Sir John Sinclair were also wounded and 
I hope will get over it. 

Sir Peter Halket, with many other 
brave officers, was killed on the field. I. 
luckily, escaped without a wound, 
though I had four bullets through my 
coat and two horses shot under me. 

It is supposed we left 300 or more 
dead on the field; about that number we 
brought off wounded, and it is imagined, 
with great notice too, that two-thirds of 
both these numbers received their shots 
from our own cowardly dogs of soldiers 
who gathered themselves into a body, 
contrary to orders, ten or twelve deep; 
would then level and fire and shoot down 
the men before them. 

I tremble at the conseqeunce this de- 
feat may have on the back inhabitants, 
who I suppose will all leave their habi- 
tations unless proper measures are 
taken for their security. Col. Dunbar, 
who commands at present, intends as 
soon as his men are recruited at this 
place, to continue his march to Phila- 
delphia into winter quarters, so that 



94 WASHINGTON'S AND 

there will be none left here unless the 
poor remains of the Virginia troops who 
now are and will be too small to guard 
our frontier. 

As Capt. Orme is now writing to your 
Honor I doubt not that he will g'ive you 
a circumstantial account of all things 
which will make it needless for me to 
add more than that I am, Honorable Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
Geo. Washington. 

He then retired to Mt. Vernon, where 
he arrived on the 26th day of July. Col. 
Dunbar returned to England, where in 
November following he was suspended 
because of his injudicious retreat, and 
was sent into honorable retirement as 
lieutenant governor of Gibraltar. He 
was never again actively employed, and 
died in 1777. 

By the defeat of Braddock and the 
withdrawal of the troops the frontiers of 
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia 
were left in unutterable gloom. The 
most westward forts were Fort Cumber- 
land and Fort Ligonier, and behind these 
the inhabitants shut themselves far east 
of their western boundaries. This condi- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 95 

tion of affairs continued until in Novem- 
ber. 1758, when Brig. Gen. John Forbes 
crossed the mountains at Ligonier and 
settled forever the dispute for the Ohio 
Valley. 

Some of the Participants. 

One Samuel Jenkins, who was born a 
slave and was the property of Captain 
Broadwater, of Fairfax County, Virginia, 
drove a provision train over the moun- 
tains in the Braddock campaign. He 
died in Lancaster, Ohio, on the 4th of 
February, 1849, at the advanced age of 
115 years. He doubtless was the last 
survivor of this ill-fated campaign. 

Owen Davis was the owner and driver 
of a team in this expedition. He settled 
on Georges Creek, where he built a mill, 
Avhich he replaced by a far better one in 
1795. This mill was erected very near 
the site of what is recently known as the 
Ruble mill. Mr. Davis died December 
22,, 1809, in the 85th year of his age, and 
was buried on his farm, near the Ruble 
mill. 

Sir John Sinclair was shot through the 
bodv and carried to Fort Cumberland. 



96 WASHINGTON'S AND 

He afterward fully recovered and ac- 
companied Gen. Forbes in his expedition 
against Fort Duquesne, and the very 
best eulogy that general could pass upon 
Sir John was that "his only talent was 
for throwing everything into confusion." 
One other accomplishment might have 
been mentioned, that "he could, on the 
least provocation, use the vilest and 
most profane language." 

Sir Peter Halket, of Pitcairn, had 
ominous forebodings as to the result of 
the coming conflict, and had earnestly 
pressed upon his general the importance 
of guarding against an ambuscade. He 
was captain of the 44th regiment of foot 
and was in command of the First Bri- 
gade. In the engagement he was killed 
from his horse while directing the move- 
ments of his- men. Two of his sons were 
fighting under his command, one of 
which, Lieutenant James Halket, hasten- 
ed at the moment to his aid, and, bend- 
ing to raise the prostrate form, he too 
was pierced by a bullet from the invis- 
ible foe and fell dead across the prostrate 
form of his father. 

When Erig. Gen. John Forbes march- 
ed his army out in the fall of 1758 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 97 

against Fort Duquesne, there accompani- 
ed him a son of Sir Peter Halket, who 
was also Sir Peter Halket, acting at this 
time as aide-de-camp to Gen. Forbes, a 
major of the 42nd regiment. His mis- 
sion on this occasion to America was 
principally to ascertain more definitely 
the fate of his father. In company with 
other officers of the Highland regiment 
and a company of Pennsylvania rifles, 
under Captain West and a few Indians 
from the neighborhood who had fought 
with the French on that fatal day, they 
proceeded to the scene of the conflict. 
One of the Indian guides had seen Sir 
Peter fall and had also witnessed the 
sad fate of the son and had no difficulty 
in identifying the spot. The thick- fallen 
leaves were removed and the two ghastly 
skeletons of father and son discovered 
as they had fallen. Upon examination, 
young Halket identified the remains of 
his father by a peculiar artificial tooth 
and exclaimed "it is my father" and sank 
into the arms of his scarce less affected 
companions. The two remains were 
wrapped in a Highland plaid and inter- 
red in a common grave and a voile}' was 
fired over their resting places. A stone 



98 WASHINGTON'S AND 

was placed to mark the sacred spot and 
the little company marched silently and 
sadly away. For more than a century 
that stone remained to indicate to the 
visitor of this historic ground the last 
resting place of one of England's bravest 
soldiers and Scotland's noblest sons. 

Fort Cumberland Continued. 

After the retirement of the troops un- 
der Col. Dunbar from Fort Cumberland 
a garrison was still maintained at that 
post for the protection of the frontier 
settlers. Col. James Innes held com- 
mand there until in May, 1756, when he 
placed the command with Major James 
Livingston. Col. Adam Stephens suc- 
ceeded Major Livingston in the fall of 
1756. About the 1st of February, 1757, 
Washington, then commander-in-chief of 
the Virginia forces, established his head- 
quarters at Fort Cumberland, where he 
remained until the middle of April, when 
Capt. Dagworthy was placed in com- 
mand. 

Marauding parties of Indians and 
French continued to harass the frontier, 
penetrating far eastward of Fort Cum- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 99 

berland, murdering, scalping and plund- 
ering even in sight of the walls of the 
fort. Sieur Langlade, at the head of a 
detachment of French and Indians, ad- 
vanced as far as Fort Cumberland in Au- 
gust, 1756, to ascertain the movements 
of the English, and after reconnoitering 
the locality retired without doing seri- 
ous damage. Sieur de Celeron de Blain- 
ville, with a scouting party, encountered 
some English near the fort in August. 
Three of the English were killed and 
scalped ; de Blainville and three Indians 
were killed. A detachment under de 
Celeron penetrated as far as Cresap's 
Post, some 15 miles east of Fort Cumber- 
land, and killed eight English. 

About the middle of July, 1765, the 
last British troops were withdrawn from 
Fort Cumberland, and the frontier set- 
tlers were left to their own resources. 
This state of affairs, happily, was of 
short duration, as a treaty of peace be- 
tween the whites and Indians was effect- 
ed early in 1776. 

When what is known as the "Whiskey 
Insurrection" took place in Western 
Pennsylvania in 1794, the President or- 
dered out some government troops for 



100 WASHINGTON'S AND 

its suppression. Some of the troops were 
quartered for a short time at Fort Cum- 
berland. While here they were inspect- 
ed by General Washington on the 19th 
of October, with Generals Lee and Mor- 
gan, General Washington appearing in 
full uniform. This is the last body of 
troops that ever occupied Fort Cumber- 
land, and is said to be the last time in 
which Washington appeared in full uni- 
form. 

The stone structure, known as the 
Emmanuel Episcopal church, now oc- 
cupies a portion of the site of old Fort 
Cumberland. 

General Washington, on his visit to 
the west in 1784, sought to visit the last 
resting place of his former commander, 
through respect for the same, but his 
search was in vain. He wrote: "I made 
diligent search for the grave, but the 
road had been so much turned and the 
clear land so much extended that it 
could not be found." 

Mr. Abraham Stewart, father of the 
Hon. Andrew Stewart, was road super- 
visor, and in 1804, while repairing the 
Braddock road at this place, found hu- 
man bones a few yards from the road. 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 101 

The military trappings found with them 
indicated that the remains were those of 
a British officer of rank, and as General 
Braddock was known to have been buri- 
ed at this camp the bones doubtless were 
his. These bones were carefully gather- 
ed up and reinterred a short dis- 
tance eastward from the place 
they were found, at the foot of 
an oak tree. Mr. Stewart caused a 
board to be marked "Braddock's Grave," 
which was nailed to the tree. This tree 
was broken off during a severe storm 
about 1868. Mr. Josiah King, editor of 
the Pittsburgh Gazette, frequently spent 
a few weeks' vacation at Chalk Hill, in 
the vicinity of the grave of General 
Braddock, and noticing the dilapidated 
condition of this historic spot, made ar- 
rangements to have it enclosed by a neat 
and substantial fence. In 1872 he pro- 
cured from Murdock's nursery a wil- 
low whose parent stem drooped over the 
grave of the Emperor Napoleon at St. 
Helena and planted it over the remains 
of General Braddock, but unfortunately 
it soon withered and died. He then 
planted a number of pine trees within 
the enclosure, which still remain to in- 



102 WASHINGTON'S AND 

dicate to the passerby the last resting 
place of Major General Edward Brad- 
dock. 

The British government has never 
taken the slightest notice of the spot 
where sleep the remains of one who 
gave his service and his life for the Eng- 
lish cause. The situation is on the 
north side and a few yards from the Na- 
tion al Road, and a few rods east of where 
Braddock's run crosses that road, and 
about nine miles east of Uniontown. 

''Far from the land he called his own, 
Nor friends nor kindred o'er him weep ; 

A group of forest trees alone, 
Stand sentinels around his keep." 

General Braddock's Watch. 

The gold watch-case of which the 
above is an illustration was found near 
the route of Braddock's retreating army 
in 1880, near a fine spring. 

The case is a fine specimen of the en- 
graver's skill and illustrates the legend 
of "The Judgment of Paris." Paris is 
represented in a sitting posture : with 
his right hand he is presenting the gold- 
en apple to Venus who stands before 




Braddock's Watch 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 103 

him. Beneath his feet are the figures of 
a dog and a quiver of arrows. Between 
Paris and Venus is the figure of Cupid. 
In the rear of Venus are the figures of 
Hera and Athens,, the rivals of Venus. 
The owl, the helmet, the shield and two 
peafowls are also represented. 

It bears the name of the engraver, 
George Michael Moser, who excelled in 
his profession and flourished in the time 
of Braddock. 

The dying general was carried along 
Avith the retreating army and doubtless 
this watch dropped from his pocket and 
was picked up by one of the frightened 
soldiers and hidden near a spring ex- 
pecting some day to recover it, but the 
opportunity never came. 

The works of the watch were corrod- 
ed away when found and the case is 
now kept as a relic of that ill-fated ex- 
pedition. 

On July 4th, 1908, a tablet was erect- 
ed to mark the grave of General Brad- 
dock containing the following inscrip- 
tion : 

Here lie the mortal remains of 
Major General Braddock, 



104 WASHINGTON'S AND 

who in command of the Forty-fourth and 
Forty-eighth regiments of English regu- 
lars, was mortally wounded in an en- 
gagement with the French and Indians 
under the command of de Beaujeu at the 
battle of the Monongahela, within ten 
miles of Fort Duquesne, July 9, 1755. 

He was borne back with the retreating 
army to the Old Orchard camp, where 
he died July 13, 1755. 

Erected July 4, 1908, under the auspi- 
ces of the Centennial Celebration com- 
mittee of 1904. 

The Site of Braddock's Grave to be Made 
a Park. 

In 1909, a number of spirited citizens 
of Uniontown, Pa., organized an associa- 
tion to be known as "The General Ed- 
ward Braddock Memorial Park Asso- 
ciation." The officers chosen were Ed- 
gar S. Hackney, cashier of the First Na- 
tional Bank, president; James Hadden, 
secretary and treasurer; and Edgar S. 
Hackney, James Hadden, W. C. Mc- 
Cormick, Chas. S. Seaton, Isaac W. Se- 
mans, E. H. Reppert, J. C. Work, W. A. 
Stone, and William Hunt, directors. 




Braddock's Grave 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 105 

Twenty-four acres of land, including 
the grave, have been secured by the as- 
sociation with the purpose of embellish- 
ing and preserving this historic spot. 



106 WASHINGTON'S AND 



CHAPTER III. 

A Sketch of Thos. Fausett, the Slayer of 

Major General Edward Braddock, who 

Became a Resident of Fayette 

County, Pa. 

The English Attempt to Drive the 
French from the Ohio Valley. 

"Circumstances make strange bedfel- 
lows," and it was under peculiar circum- 
stances that the name of Tom Fausett 
has become inseparably connected with 
that of the brave officer of the famous 
Cold Stream Guards, Major General Ed- 
ward Braddock. 

When France began the erection of a 
cordon of posts along the Allegheny and 
Ohio rivers with the purpose of taking 
possession of the great Mississippi val- 
ley, England was aroused to the fact 
that unless active measures be immedi- 
atelv taken she must forfeit all her 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 107 

claims to this vast and fertile portion of 
the new world. 

English traders had been driven from 
their trading posts on the Ohio and oth- 
ers had been carried away as prisoners 
by the French, when Robert Dinwiddie, 
then governor of the province of Virginia, 
commissioned George Washington, then 
just twenty-one years of age, as an en- 
voy to the French posts at the head of 
the Allegheny River to demand of the 
commandant of the French forces the 
purpose of their encroachment upon the 
territory claimed by the English crown, 
and to demand his immediate removal. 

Being apprised of the intentions of 
the French, the governor of Virginia im- 
mediately dispatched a small force under 
the command of Captain Trent, Lieuten- 
ant Frasher and Ensign Ward, to take 
possession of the Forks of the Ohio, and 
to hold the same against the intrusion of 
'the French. 

Ward began the construction of a 
small fort, but before its completion the 
French dropped down the Allegheny in 
great numbers and Ward, who was the 
only officer present at the time, was com- 
pelled to surrender without a blow, and 



108 WASHINGTON'S AND 

retraced his steps to Virginia, and the 
French began the construction of a fort 
which they named Fort Duquesne. 

At Will's Creek, where the city of 
Cumberland now stands, Ward was met 
by Washington, who, in command of a 
small force, was on his way to the forks 
with reinforcements. 

Washington Fights His First Battle and 
Defeats the French. 

On reaching the Great Meadows, fifty- 
one miles west of Will's Creek, Washing- 
ton learned that a body of French had 
been seen not a great distance off, and by 
the aid of a few friendly Indians under 
the command of their chief, the Half- 
King, who were encamped at the Great 
Rock on the crest of Laurel Hill, he was 
enabled to surprise them in their se- 
cluded encampment. Here an engage- 
ment took place at sunrise on the morn- 
ing of the 28th of May, 1754, in which 
Jumonville, the commander of the 
French party, and nine others were kill- 
ed, one wounded and twenty-one taken 
prisoners, among whom were M. La 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 109 

Force, M. Drouillion and two cadets; 
one, a Canadian, escaped. 

This was the first battle in which 
Washington was ever engaged, and was 
the initial battle of the great French and 
Indian war. 

When the news of the defeat of Ju- 
monville reached Fort Duquesne great 
activity prevailed and a force was sent 
against Washington under the command 
of M. Conlon de Villiers, who was a half- 
brother to Jumonville. This force came 
up the Monongahela River in large canoes 
to the mouth of Redstone Creek, thence 
passing the place of the engagement 
with Jumonville to the Great Meadows, 
to which place Washington had retreat- 
ed and erected a small stockade which 
he named Fort Necessity. Here on the 
third day of July, 1754, the French 
forces made an attack, and owing to 
the distressed condition of his little 
army, Washington capitulated; this be- 
ing the first as well as the last time 
Washington ever surrendered to a foe. 

News of this defeat was soon heralded 
to England and preparations were im- 
mediately made to send two regiments 
of trained soldiers to recover what the 



HO WASHINGTON'S AND 

provincial troops had failed to accomp- 
lish. 

General Braddock Lands in America. 

Major General Edward Braddock had 
entered the British army at the age of 
fifteen years as a member of the Cold 
Stream Guards, a very aristocratic, di- 
vision of the army. He was commis- 
sioned general-in-chief of His Majesty's 
forces in North America and arrived at 
Alexandria in Virginia, February 20, 
1755. Two regiments of the royal army, 
consisting of the Forty-fourth and Forty- 
eighth, to which were added such pro- 
vincials as might be recruited from 
Maryland and Virginia were moved 
against the French at the Forks of the 
Ohio, where they had erected Fort Du- 
quesne immediately after the surrender 
of Ward as before mentioned, and thence 
to Canada. 

After a long, tedious and laborious 
march, consuming more than a month 
from the time he left Fort Cumberland, 
General Braddock arrived at the Mon- 
ongahela River, a short distance below 
the present town of McKeesport. The 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 11 1 

army crossed to the left bank of the 
river; here the maneuvers of the troops 
presented the grandest military display 
Washington claimed it was ever his pri- 
vilege to behold. The burnished arms 
of the marching- columns flashed in the 
light of the mornino- sun as they step- 
ped to the strains of martial music, and 
the proud British general little thought 
that within a few short hours these dis- 
ciplined troops in which he now reposed 
so much confidence would be fleeing in 
disorder before a horde of yelling sav- 
ages. 

The army had scarcely recrossed to 
the right bank of the river, just below 
the mouth of Turtle Creek, and within 
ten miles of the fort which they ex- 
pected to enter in triumph the following 
day, when a brisk fire was received from 
an unseen foe. Braddock's troops re- 
sponded, but to little effect and the en- 
gagement which lasted for three hours 
was most furious. 

Braddock Meets a Disastrous Defeat. 

More than half of the army was either 
killed or wounded, two-thirds of them 



112 WASHINGTON'S AND 

being shot down by their own men. 
Braddock had four horses killed under 
him; at last, while on the fifth, he re- 
ceived a mortal wound which shattered 
his right arm and penetrated his lungs. 
He was wrapped in a silken sash taken 
from about his Avaist, which English offi- 
cers were wont to carry, and by his aids, 
Captain Orme and Captain Stewart of 
Virginia, assisted by his faithful body 
servant, Bishop, whom in his dying mo- 
ments he bequeathed to Washington, he 
was carried off the field. This silken 
sash was later presented to General 
Zachary Taylor and contains woven in 
its meshes the initials "E. B." and is 
marked with blood stains of that un- 
fortunate general. It was in the posses- 
sion of Mrs. Bettie Dandridge. the 
daughter of President Taylor, of Win- 
chester, Va., until her death. 

Out of eighty-nine commissioned offi- 
cers twenty-six were killed and thirty- 
seven wounded, and of the soldiers four 
hundred and thirty were killed and 
about four hundred wounded, the killed 
being in excess of the wounded. Every 
field officer and every one on horseback 
except Washington, who had two horses 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 113 

killed under him and four bullets through 
his coat, was either killed or carried off 
the field wounded. Washington, al- 
though enfeebled and emaciated from 
fever, formed and covered the retreat. 

The officers endeavored in vain to ral- 
ly the distracted troops, and to intimi- 
date others ran the fugitives through 
with the sword, and were in turn killed 
by others. One eye witness declared 
that the slaughter among the officers was 
not made by the enemy, but as they had 
run several fugitives through the body to 
intimidate the rest, when they were at- 
tempting in vain to rally them, some oth- 
ers who expected the same fate fired 
their pieces with deadly effect. 

During the whole of the engagement 
Braddock raved and swore and cursed 
his troops as dastards and cowards. The 
provincials, being acquainted with the 
Indian mode of warfare, had taken to 
the trees and were doing good execution, 
but Braddock ordered them to stand out, 
as he said, "like English soldiers" and 
fight in the open. He struck many of 
them down with his sword, among whom 
was Joseph Fausett, a brother to the 



114 WASHINGTON'S AND 

subject of this sketch, and for which act 
he paid the penalty with his life. 

Braddock was described as "desperate 
in his fortune, brutal in his behavior and 
obstinate in his sentiments." His secre- 
tary writes of him before the battle "We 
have a general most judiciously chosen 
for being disqualified for the service in 
which he is employed in almost every re- 
spect." 

Tom Fausett Fires the Fatal Shot. 

Thomas Fausett and his brother, Jo- 
seph Fausett, were enlisted as privates 
at six pence a day, at Shippensburg, 
Pennsylvania, by Captain William Pol- 
son, who had served under Washington 
in the expedition of 1754, into Captain 
Cholmondeley's company of the 48th 
regiment, and marched with the advance 
of Braddock's army to the fatal field. 

During the engagement Tom witness- 
ed the fearful slaughter of the army by 
the unseen foe, the raving madness of 
his commander and the striking down 
of his brother for no other offense than 
that of fighting in the only successful 
manner against the Indians. This was 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS H5 

too much for a man of his temperament 
to stand and he determined at once to 
have revenge and at the same time to 
put an end to the terrible carnage for 
which the officers had pleaded in vain. 
He raised his gun and sent the deadly 
missile crashing through the right arm 
and into the lungs of Braddock, who as 
he fell from his horse expressed the wish 
that the scene of his defeat might wit- 
ness his death. 

While this rash act of Fausett can 
never be palliated but deserves hearty 
condemnation, the affection he had for 
his brother, the love he bore toward his 
comrades and countrymen and his ad- 
miration for Washington appealed to his 
untutored mind and brutal instinct more 
forcibly than his loyalty to his com- 
mander. 

The wounded commander was borne 
along with the retreating army until 10 
o'clock of the evening of the following 
day. when they arrived at Gist's planta- 
tion, in the exact geographical center of 
what is now Fayette county. Here he 
awaited provisions and hospital stores 
which he had ordered sent forward from 
Col. Dunbar, who was encamped on the 



116 WASHINGTON'S AND 

summit of Laurel Hill, six miles distant. 
Braddock still persisted in the exercise 
of his authority, and on the nth was re- 
moved to Dunbar's camp which he found 
to be in the utmost confusion. Here he 
ordered the provisions and ammunition 
destroyed lest they fall into the hands of 
the enemy. One hundred and fifty 
wagons were burned, the powder casks 
were staved and their contents, to the 
amount of 50,000 pounds, cast into the 
stream. Nothing beyond the actual ne- 
cessities Of a flying march was saved, 
and until recent years this has been a 
fruitful field for the relic seekers. 

Gen. Braddock Dies, and Tom Fausett 
Locates the Grave 49 Years Afterward. 

On Sunday, the 13th, the army retrac- 
ed its steps to the Old Orchard Camp 
where it had halted on its way out. The 
general softly repeated to himself : "Who 
would have thought it?" and turning to 
Orme said, "We shall better know how 
to deal with them another time." He 
breathed his last about 8 o'clock on the 
same night and was wrapped in his cloak 
as a winding sheet and was buried at 
daybreak on Monday morning at the 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS H7 

camp in the middle of the road that the 
army in passing over the grave might 
obliterate every trace of its whereabouts, 
and thus avoid any desecration of the 
body by the Indians. The chaplain hav- 
ing been wounded, Washington read the 
Episcopal funeral service and the dead 
general was buried in the honors of war. 
Abraham Stewart, father of the late 
Honorable Andrew Stewart, was road 
supervisor in Wharton township in 1804, 
and while repairing the old road at this 
place Tom Fausett, who had settled in 
this neighborhood after the retreat of the 
army, as will be related hereafter, came 
along where the men were at work and 
remarked, "If you will dig right there," 
indicating, "you will find the bones of 
General Braddock," and sure enough, Mr. 
Stewart dug as directed and exhumed 
the bones of the unfortunate general and 
his military trappings. A merchant hap- 
pened to witness the discovery and car- 
ried off one of the largest bones which 
he placed in Peale's museum in Phila- 
delphia where it was destroyed by fire. 
Mr. Stewart carefully reinterred the re- 
mainder of the bones at a short 
distance east of the place where 



118 WASHINGTON'S AND 

they were found, at the foot of an 
oak tree and caused a board to be mark- 
ed "Braddock's Grave," which was nail 
ed to the tree. This tree was broken off in 
a severe storm about 1868. Mr. James 
Mitchell, a blacksmith, who lived at Mt. 
Washington, and Mr. Peter Hager, who 
was raised in the family of Mr. Stewart, 
with others witnessed the reinterment of 
Braddock's remains and often related the 
circumstances to others. 

Mr. Josiah King, editor of the Pitts- 
burg Gazette, frequently spent a few 
weeks' vacation at Chalk Hill in the vi- 
cinity of the grave of General Braddock, 
and noticing the dilapidated condition of 
this historic spot, made arrangements 
with Mr. Dixon, the proprietor of the 
land, to have it enclosed with a neat and 
substantial fence. In 1872, he procured 
from Murdock's nursery a willow whose 
parent stem drooped over the grave of 
the Emperor Napoleon. at St. Helena and 
planted it over the remains of General 
Braddock, but, unfortunately it soon 
withered and died. He then planted a 
number of pine trees within the enclos- 
ure which still remain to indicate to pas- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 119 

sers-by the last resting place of the un- 
fortunate general. 

The British government has never tak- 
en the slightest notice of the spot where 
sleep the remains of one who gave his 
service and his life for the English 
cause. 

''Far from the land he called his own. 
Nor friends nor kindred o'er him weep ; 

A group of forest trees alone 

Stand sentinels around his keep." 

The situation is on the north side and 
a few yards from the National Road and 
a few rods east of where Braddock's Run 
crosses that road, about nine miles east 
of Uniontown. 

Tom Fausett, the slayer of Braddock, 
was a large, illiterate, muscular man of 
great strength, rude habits and strong 
passions. His brother, Joseph, was 
doubtless the same, and, as before stated, 
both were enlisted and served in the 
same company during the expedition. 

When Braddock's retreating army pas- 
ed over the mountains confusion prevail- 
ed and many deserted from the ranks, 
among whom were Tom and Joe Fausett. 



120 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Washington's Springs on the Crest of 

Laurel Hill Once Owned by Tom 

Fausett. 

The next we learn of Tom Fausett we 
find him located on the summit of Laurel 
Hill at the junction of Dunlap's Road, 
which led to the Monongahela River at 
the mouth of Dunlap's Creek, with the 
Braddock Road, which here turned 
abruptly to the north and on to Gist's 
and to Stewart's Crossing of the Yough- 
ioghcny River a short distance below the 
present town of Connellsville. 

This location has always been known 
as Washington's Springs and was on a 
tract of 10234 acres of land which was 
warranted the 17th of September, J 772, 
to Henry Hunt. Here Fausett conduct- 
ed a tavern for some years, besides 
spending much of his time in hunting 
the wild game so abundant in those 
days. A writer in the National Intel- 
ligencer, supposed to have been the late 
William Darby, Esq., said: "When my 
father was removing with his family to 
the west one of the Fausetts kept a pub- 
lic house eastward from Uniontown, with 
whom we lodeed about the 10th of Oc- 



w 




BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 121 

tober, 1781, and there it was made any- 
thing but a secret that he dealt the death 
blow to the British general. Thirteen 
years afterwards, 1794, I again met Tom 
Fausett and put to him the plain ques- 
tion, 'Did you shoot General Braddock?' 
and his reply was prompt and explicit, 
T did shoot him,' and then went on to 
explain that by so doing he had contri- 
buted to save what was left of the army. 
The property rolls of Wharton town- 
ship give Tom Fausett as located here 
and having in his possession horses and 
cows as taxables. How Fausett acquir- 
ed the right to this tract is not apparent, 
but on April 29th, 1788, he disposed of it 
as the following abstract from the public 
records will show : 

"Know all men by these presents, that 
T, Thomas Fossit, of the county of Phay- 
ette and state of Pennsylvania for and in 
Consideration of the sum of Fifty 
Pounds to Mee In hand Paid by Isaac 
Philips of the same Place the Receipt 
whereof I do acknowledge have Granted, 
bargained, sold, Releas'd, confirmed and 
made over all My rite tract of Land and 
Parcel of Land I now live Upon at the 



122 WASHINGTON'S AND 

forks of the Road on the top of Laurel 
Hill Known by the name of Washing- 
ton's Spring adjoining the Lands of 
Jonathan Hill Els whereby Vacant Land 
Containing one hundred acres More or 
less To Have and to Hold the said tract 
of Land and premises and appertenances 
thereunto belonging unto the said Isaac 
Phillips his Heirs and assigns war- 
ranting and defending it all, Every of My 
self My heirs or any Claim or Claiming 
by virtue of My Rite and title to said 
Land only nevertheless under and Sub- 
ject to the States and it all other dues 
and Demands unto which the same are 
Liable. 

In witness whereof I Have set my 

Hand and seal hereunto. Dated the 29th 

day of April in the year of our Lord one 

Thousand Seven Hundred Eighty Eight. 

his 

THOMAS X FOSSET, seal" 

mark. 

A few years after Fausett had disposed 
of his claim to the Washington's Springs 
tract it came into the possession of John 
Slack who had previously kept a tavern 
in Uniontown. Slack's tavern stood 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 123 

some little distance south of the Wash- 
ington's Springs and here he conducted 
his business for many years. This was 
a favorite stopping place and was ex- 
tensively known and patronized by the 
wagoners on the old road. His daugh- 
ter, Tamzon, married Ephraim McClean 
who kept a public house on the summit 
of Laurel Hill in the palmy days of the 
old National Road. Slack's place was con- 
sidered a good stand for the entertain- 
ment of the traveling public until the 
completion of the National Road, at which 
time the old Braddock Road was aban- 
doned and quiet once more settled over 
the old Nemacolin Trail. 

Tom Fansett was said to have been 
married three times and that two of his 
wives were killed by the Indians, and 
that his favorite, as he termed her his 
"little Dutch wife," was tomahawked be- 
fore his eyes. There is no tradition in 
this section of the country that he had 
a wife after settling here, but after re- 
tiring from the tavern business and dis- 
posing of his tract of land he remained a 
citizen of Wharton township, and for 
some time occupied a cabin on the old 
Braddock road back of Chalk Hill. This 



124 WASHINGTON'S AND 

old cabin was west of what was long 
known as the Cushman House, the loca- 
tion of which is still visible, and still 
west of his old cabin is a group of im- 
mense rocks known as the "Peddler's 
Rocks." With this picturesque group of 
rocks is connected the legend that at one 
time a peddler was murdered here for 
his money and pack of jewelry and other 
valuables which he carried. His pack 
and other articles were found secreted 
among these rocks, but what became of 
the peddler was never certainly known, 
but suspicion rested upon more than one 
of the several persons living in the neigh- 
borhood of the rocks. 

While Tom Fausett occupied this old 
cabin, making a precarious living with 
his gun, he had as his housekeeper an 
old colored woman who had been a slave. 
One morning upon calling his house- 
keeper and receiving no response he went 
to her couch and found her cold in death. 
She was buried in a field some distance 
away between two apple trees, as mark- 
ers, and as there was no minister pres- 
ent to conduct the funeral service one of 
the neighbors deeming it appropriate 




Peddler's Rocks 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 125 

that some remarks should be made at the 
grave, ventured the following: 

"Earth to earth and dust to dust, 

If the Lord wont take her the devil must." 

Joseph Fausett, although struck down 
with the sword of the enraged Braddock, 
survived, and also became a resident of 
Wharton township, and left descendants. 
One of his sons, Joseph Fausett, Jr., mar- 
ried Amelia Lynch, daughter of Corneli- 
us Lynch of Uniontown, who at one 
time owned and occupied the ground 
now covered by the Thompson-Ruby 
building, corner Main and Morgantown 
streets. This son, Joseph, owned a farm 
north of Chalk Hill and died young, leav- 
ing a wife and two small children, Joseph 
and Elizabeth, the latter of whom is 
well remembered by the older citizens of 
Uniontown. The widow, as adminis- 
tratrix, sold the farm, September 28th, 
1800, to John Chaplin who in turn con- 
veyed the same to Jonathan Downer. 
Another son of the original Joseph Fau- 
sett was Uriah who left quite a family of 
which one daughter, Rebecca, made her 
home in Wharton township until old 



126 WASHINGTON'S AND 

age overtook her when she was sent to 
the county home, to which institution 
she was admitted May 17, 1906, and 
where she died Jan. 9, 1910, aged 84 
years, having made her home for more 
than forty years with William Smith and 
was later the housekeeper of Isaac Spik- 
er a short distance east of Farmington. 

Tom Fausett Confesses That He Fired 
the Fatal Shot That Killed Braddock. 

Tom Fausett never denied that he 
fired the shot that killed Braddock, but 
upon repeated occasions, especially when 
in his cups, did he relate the circum- 
stances which prompted him to commit 
the deed. Besides the confessions al- 
ready recited, Mr. Freeman Lewis, who 
assisted Judge Veech in collecting data 
in compiling his "Monongahela of Old," 
recites that he at one time taught a 
country school and one day when the 
children were at play he heard the cry of 
"There's old Tom Fausett, the man who 
killed Braddock." The children feared 
him, his appearance and noisiness, es- 
pecially when intoxicated, being rather 
terrifying. I knew him and got him to 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 127 

sit down by a tree. He at once began 
fluttering his fingers over his mouth to 
imitate the roll of a drum, he soon got at 
his old rigmarole, which ran about thus : 
Poor fellows — poor fellows — they are all 
gone — murdered by a madman — Brad- 
dock was a madman — he would not let 
us tree, but made us stand out and be 
shot down when we could see no In- 
dians ; — Yes, Braddock was a madman. 
He said, "No skulking, no treeing, but 
stand out and give them fair English 
play." If he had been shot when the bat- 
tle began and Washington had taken 
command we would have licked them, — 
yes, we'd a licked then." "How could 
you have done that?" I asked. "Why, 
we'd 'ave charged on them, and driven 
them out of the brush and peavines, — 
then we would have seen their red skins 
and could have peppered them — yes, 
we'd have peppered their red skins." He 
would then repeat his "boo-oo-oo my 
old Virginia Blues — poor fellows — all 
gone," &c, cvC, and tears would roll over 
his rough cheeks. 

Fausett often related the circumstances 
of the killing of Braddock to the late 
Hon. Andrew Stewart, who served eigh- 



128 WASHINGTON'S AND 

teen years in congress, who when a 
young man and a resident of Wharton 
township was intimately acquainted with 
Fausett, then in his old age. Peter Hag- 
er, who was raised as a member of the 
family of Abraham Stewart, and who as- 
sisted in removing the bones of General 
Braddock, repeatedly heard Fausett re- 
late the circumstances of the killing of 
what he termed the madman. 

The late Basil Brownfield of South 
Union township, who was born near the 
present site of Smithfield, related that 
Tom Fausett frequently visited that lo- 
cality on hunting expeditions, and that by 
frequent interviews with him he learned 
that the Fausetts were at one time resi- 
dents of the South Branch valley, in the 
present state of West Virginia, from the 
neighborhood of the site of Moorefield, 
and that Tom's principal occupation was 
that of a hunter. 

One time on returning from a hunting 
expedition he was horrified at finding his 
cabin in ashes and the dead and scalped 
bodies of his wife and children a short 
distance off where they had been over- 
taken and slaughtered by the Indians. 
He could never refer to this incident 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 129 

without manifesting great emotion and 
tears would roll down his rugged cheeks. 
He said he could not remain in the vicin- 
ity where his family had been killed, 
and removed to Pennsylvania where he 
and his brother enlisted in Braddock's 
campaign. 

Mr. Brownfield further related that 
Fausett was a man of rugged frame, of 
uninviting features, distant in his man- 
ners, rarely associating' with others, was 
not communicative when sober but in- 
clined to be boisterous and boastful when 
intoxicated. He frequently related to 
Mr. Brownfield that he fired the fatal 
shot at Braddock in revenge for strik- 
ing his brother and for other offenses. 

It is related that an Indian trader by 
the name of McCullough used to travel 
an Indian trail leading from Winchester 
to the west and the trail became known 
as McCullough's path. This McCullough 
was in the habit of supplying the Indi- 
ans, even in times of war, with knives, 
hatchets, powder and balls. The set- 
tlers threatened him for this but he 
would not desist. Learning when he 
was to pass that way a number of set- 
tlers disguised themselves and went in 



130 WASHINGTON'S AND 

pursuit. They caught and threatened him 
with dire punishment unless he gave up 
his nefarious traffic. He at first refused 
to comply with their wishes, but Tom 
Fausett, being one of the party, caught 
McCullough in his giant grasp and held 
him until his tormentors made him prom- 
ise never more to transgress, and after 
despoiling him of his peltry, they let him 
go, and he never was seen again in that 
region of country. 

Writers upon this unfortunate expedi- 
tion are wont to cast a doubt as to the 
manner in which Braddock received his 
death wound, and produce conflicting- 
rumors to dispute the statements made 
by Fausett. No one who was acquaint- 
ed with Fausett, knew his disposition and 
habits, doubted his statement as to the 
death of the British general. Freeman 
Lewis, previously referred to, stated that 
his last interview with Fausett was in 
the month of October, 1816, and that 
Fausett then claimed to be one hundred 
and four years of age, and that his ap- 
pearance bore him out, and that some of 
Fausett's statements were "wholly irre- 
concilable with well ascertained facts." 
Who would expect an illiterate man at 




Rebecca Fausett, 
Grand-daughter of Joseph Fausett 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 131 

that extreme age to relate circumstances 
in detail with perfect accuracy that had 
transpired a half century before? 

Winthrop Sargent in his "Braddock's 
Expedition" goes some length to dis- 
prove the statements made by Faucett, 
while at the same time he adduces the 
evidence of William Butler who had ser- 
ved as a private in the Pennsylvania 
Greens at the defeat of Braddock, and 
under Forbes in 1758, and under Wolf 
in 1759, at the Plains of Abraham, who 
when interrogated as to the killing of 
Braddock unhesitatingly declared that 
he was shot by Fausett for striking down 
his brother. The Millerstown (Perry 
county, Pa.) Gazette of 1830, mentions 
the fact that Butler was in that town in 
company with another who had served 
under Braddock and that both concur- 
red in saying that Braddock had been 
killed by Fausett, 

The Colonization Herald (Philadel- 
phia) of June 20. 1838, contained the 
notice of the death of William Butler at 
the age of one hundred and eight years, 
and further states that he had lived at 
the corner of Sixth and Chestnut streets, 
which was then in woods and leaning on 



132 WASHINGTON'S AND 

his crutch, often entertained visitors by 
a recital of the unfortunate expedition 
and the circumstances of the death of 
Braddock. 

The evidence of Billy Brown, a negro 
living at Frankfort, Pennsylvania, taken 
in 1826, when he was ninety-three years 
of age is also adduced to confirm Fau- 
sett's story. He was born in Africa and 
brought as a slave to this country at an 
early age. He was present at Brad- 
dock's defeat as a servant to a colonel 
in the Irish regiment. He relates that 
Braddock's character was obstinate and 
profane and he also confirms the report 
that Braddock was shot by an American 
because he had killed, or was supposed 
to have killed, his brother, and that none 
seemed to care for it. 

Daniel Adams of Newber^port, Mas- 
sachusetts, states that in 1842, it had 
been told him by one who had it from 
another who was present at the occur- 
rence that the principal officers had de- 
sired a retreat which the general per- 
tinaciously refused and upon seeing the 
rashness of the commander a brother of 
one who had been stricken down fired 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 133 

the fatal shot, which several of the sol- 
diers witnessed but said nothing. 

Historian Sargent in his effort to dis- 
prove that Braddock met his death at 
the hands of Fausett not only admits but 
certainly establishes the fact that such 
was the current belief at the time among 
those in position to know. 

A still further witness who heretofore 
has entirely escaped the notice of the 
historian is James Edwards, who was 
a captain in one of the Associated Com- 
panies of Kent County, now Delaware, in 
August, 1748, in the service of the Pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania. He enlisted in 
Braddock's campaign, and in the defeat 
was wounded in the leg by a musket ball, 
which he carried to his grave. He subse- 
quently served in the Revolutionary war 
in Colonel Thomas Proctor's celebrated 
artillery in preference to infantry on ac- 
count of his wounded leg, and served at 
Brandy wine, Chadd's Ford, Newtown, 
Germantown, Bergen Neck and Trenton. 
Mr. Edwards finally settled at Barnegat, 
New Jersey, where he was a prominent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He too lived to an advanced 
age and frequently related the scenes of 



134 WASHINGTON'S AND 

Braddock's defeat and always positively 
asserted that the unfortunate general 
was killed by one of his own men by the 
name of Fausett for striking down his 
brother and, as he thought, uselessly 
sacrificing the lives of his soldiers. Mr. 
Edwards was an ardent admirer of 
Washington and in his old age expressed 
his willingness to depart and join his 
"dear old General, Washington/' whom 
he believed to be "one of the brightest 
stars in the region of glory." Mr. Ed- 
wards is buried in the Methodist Church 
yard at Tuckerton, New Jersey. 

It will be remembered that Braddock's 
army precipitately fled from the fatal 
field and scattered like leaves before the 
hurricane, but Sargent does not account 
for the fact that William Butler, of Phila- 
delphia, and Billy Brown of Frankfort, 
Pennsylvania and Daniel Adams of New- 
berryport, Massachusetts, and James Ed- 
wards of New Jersey, and many others, 
having no communication whatever with 
each other all concurred in relating sub- 
stantially the same story as Fausett un- 
less they had gotten these facts before 
the army was disbanded at Fort Cum- 
berland on the retreat. 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 135 

The evidence here adduced is certain- 
ly all that would be necessary to war- 
rant conviction in a court of justice were 
Fausett on trial for having fired the fatal 
shot at the British general. 

Tom Fausett Becomes a Charge Upon 
the Township of Wharton. 

For some years before his death Tom 
Fausett became a charge upon the town- 
ship of Wharton, and it was the custom 
to sell out paupers to the lowest bid- 
der. In an old book still extant, kept by 
the overseers of the poor for that town- 
ship, are the following entries : 

"March 20, 1812, Be it remembered 
that James Wear has undertaken to keep 
Thomas Fausett for the space of one 
year for the sum of thirty-seven dollars 
and seventy-five cents exclusive of find- 
ing him any clothing. 

March 19, 1813, Samuel Spaugh under- 
takes to keep Thomas Fausett one year 
for the sum of thirty-seven dollars and 
seventy-five cents, exclusive of finding 
him any clothing. 

April 4, 1814, For the keeping of Fau- 



136 WASHINGTON'S AND 

sett for one year, fifty-seven dollars. For 
selling Fausett in 1814, $1.00. 

For the keeping of Fausett for the year 
1815, $39.80. 

March 15, 1816, Be it remembered that 
Thomas Mitchell undertakes to keep 
Thomas Fausett, one of the poor of 
Wharton township, for one year for 
fort}r~eight dollars, exclusive of finding 
him clothing. 

March 21, 1817, Be it remembered that 
Edward Tissue undertakes to keep 
Thomas Fausett, one of the poor of 
Wharton township, exclusive of finding 
him clothing, for one year for $37.50. 

March 20, 181 8, Be it remembered that 
Thomas Mitchell undertakes to keep 
Thomas Fausett, one of the poor of 
Wharton township, exclusive of finding 
him clothing for twenty-eight dollars and 
fifty cents, the time not to commence un- 
til the 24th of April. 

April 24, 1819, Be it remembered that 
Thomas Mitchell undertakes to board, 
lodge and wash and mend and find tobac- 
co for Thomas Fausett for one year from 
this date for the sum of fifty dollars. 

Auditors' report for 1819. By noticing 
the sale of Fausett for the present year, 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 137 

50 cents, tobacco for Fausett, 25 cents, 
paid for keeping Fausett twenty-eight 
dollars and fifty cents. 

April 24, 1819. By one day selling Fau- 
cett and settling with auditors, $1.00. 

1820, Contra. Moses Mercer and John 
Bolin, overseers of the poor, Cr. by keep- 
ing Thomas Fausett, fifty dollars. 

By Fausett clothing and Mercer, his 
attendance, sixty-two dollars and seven- 
ty-five cents." 

From this last entry it would appear 
that poor old Tom had been deprived of 
clothing until he had no further use of 
the same. Then the township furnished 
a suit in order that he might appear the 
more respectable in the happy hunting 
grounds. 

This last entry in this old township 
book would indicate that Tom Fausett 
died in 1820, and that Moses Mercer was 
in attendance at his death and burial, and 
that the overseers of the poor settled the 
bill of expenses. From the fact that Fau- 
cett's name does not again appear on the 
book the inference would be reasonable 
that he died during the year 1820. 

For some years before his death Fau- 
sett made his home in a little log cabin 



138 WASHINGTON'S AND 

which stood on Avhat was subsequently 
the Frederick Nicolay farm about one 
mile and a half west of Ohiopyle Falls. 
Here he cultivated among other things a 
little patch of tobacco for his own use 
which he husbanded with the greatest 
care. This old cabin, like its tenant, has 
long since passed away, but after nearly 
a half century had rolled away since the 
death of its distinguished occupant, Mr. 
Nicolay was plowing near the site of the 
old cabin, a few stones of the old chim- 
ney only remaining, near which his plow 
turned up a small box containing a 
quantity of silver coins and jewelry. He 
took his find to Pittsburgh for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining its value, the coins 
being in different denominations of for- 
eign money such as was current in those 
early days, and placed it in charge of an 
old acquaintance and well known banker 
of that city, but notwithstanding his 
frequent inquiries he died before he as- 
certained the value or recovered his valu- 
able discovery. 

The finding of this box of jewelry and 
coin revived the story that was current 
in the mountain region of Wharton 
township many years before, as pre- 



BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITIONS 139 

viously related, that a peddler had been 
murdered at the Peddlers Rocks near the 
cabin of Fausett, and the discovery of 
this box with its peculiar contents would 
indicate that Fausett might have known 
somewhat of the missing peddler. 

Fausett's last home was in the family 
of Thomas Mitchell, about two miles 
west of Ohiopyle Falls. He was buried 
in a small burying ground on what was 
known as the Jacob H. Rush farm, since 
occupied by the late Patton Rush, where 
also rest the remains of many of the old 
residents of that neighborhood. Some 
years after his death a rude headstone 
was erected to his memory on which is 
inscribed the following: 

THO FAUCET 

died 
March 23 

1822 
Aged 109 
9 mos 
Thus is marked the last resting place 
of the slayer of Major General Edward 
Braddock, and on each recurring memo- 
rial day a flag and a few flowers are 
placed on the little mound of earth to 
keep his memory green. 






w 



